In this study, the design and development of an autonomous morphing wing concept were investigated. This morphing wing was developed in the scope of, the Smart-X project, aiming to demonstrate in-flight performance optimisation. This study proposed a novel distributed morphing concept, with six Translation Induced Camber (TRIC) morphing trailing edge modules, inter-connected triangular skin segments joined by an elastomer material to allow seamless variation of local lift distribution along the wingspan. An FSI structural optimisation tool was developed, to achieve this optimised design, and to produce an optimal laminate design of fibre Glass weave material, capable of reaching target shapes and minimise actuation loads. Analysis of the kinematic model of the embedded actuator was performed, and a conventional actuator design was selected to continuously operate at the required load and fulfil both static and dynamic requirements in terms of bandwidth, actuation force and stroke. Preparations were made in this study for the next stage of the Smart-X design, to refine the morphing mechanism design and build a functional demonstrator for wind tunnel testing.

This paper summarises the design of a gust generator and the comparison between high fidelity numerical results and experimental results. The gust generator has been designed for a low subsonic wind tunnel in order to perform gust response experiments on wings and assess load alleviation. Special attention has been given to the different design parameters that influence the shape of the gust velocity profile by means of CFD simulations. Design parameters include frequency of actuation, flow speed, maximum deflection, chord length and gust vane spacing. The numerical results are compared to experimental results obtained using a hot-wire anemometer and using flow visualisation by means of smoke. Discrepancies have been noticed between CFD and flow measurements but trends compare well and the system is fully functional.

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to a design of the tailored composite wing for a flying demonstrator is presented in this paper. In the design process the structural mass of the wing is minimised including a cruise shape constraint. Introduction of the cruise shape constraint is explained as well as a number of other important design requirements which were imposed in order to obtain a feasible and flight worthy design. The effect of the cruise shape constraint is investigated by performing a comparison study. For this purpose two wing types were defined: the reference wing and the tailored wing. The difference between the two wings is in the laminate definition comprising each wing. The reference wing was designed with symmetric-balanced laminates, while symmetric-only laminates were used for the tailored wing. The comparison was performed in terms of laminate stiffness and thickness distribution along the span, jig twist, and the aeroelastic response. Elastic deformations, aerodynamic load distribution and wing root loads are compared within the scope of aeroelastic response.

Morphing technologies bare a great potential for further improvements of aircraft in terms of aerodynamic efficiency and noise reduction. A complete development process from conceptual design to manufacturing of a morphing leading edge concept was developed within the scope of the LeaTop project, CleanSky Green Regional Aircraft Integrated Technology Demonstrator. The morphing leading edge concept had to demonstrate morphing capabilities of at least 5° leading edge rotation by inducing predominantly bending deformations in the airfoil skin. In addition to morphing, a prescribed target shape had to be matched as closely as possible. Furthermore, the morphing mechanism had to be able to transfer aerodynamic loads from the skin to the main spar. An operational morphing leading edge demonstrator was built and a set of experiments was designed in order to allow for a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the morphing concept and developed design methodologies with respect to the posed design requirements. Therefore, a detailed description of the experimental setup is described in this paper, followed by a detailed discussion of the obtained results and findings.

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