The paper describes the activities performed at Politecnico di Milano in the framework of FP7-NOVEMOR Project aiming at the design, manufacturing and wind tunnel test of a wing model equipped with morphing leading and trailing edges based on compliant structures. Starting from the Reference Aircraft, i.e. a typical regional aircraft developed during NOVEMOR project, a small scale wind tunnel model has been derived to validate the proposed morphing concept and to correlate the numerical models in an experimental environment. A special attention has been devoted to the selection of the manufacturing technology due to the difficulty in realizing compliant structures with enough accuracy at a small scale level. After a short reminder of the tools developed for the design of variable camber morphing wings, the paper describes in details the design and manufacturing phases together with the functionality and wind tunnel tests.The results were used to validate the procedure adopted for the synthesis of the compliant structures and to evaluate the aerodynamic performances of the morphing wing. Nomenclature a = vector of CST extra-coefficients α = angle of attack [deg] α e = "effective" angle of attack [deg] c = airfoil chord [m] C d = drag coefficient for unit span C l = lift coefficient for unit span C m = pitch moment coefficient for unit span ∆κ = curvature difference function between the initial and the deformed shape [1/m] ∆L = length difference function between the initial and the deformed shape [m] δ LE = leading edge equivalent deflection [deg] δ T E = trailing edge equivalent deflection [deg] ψ = non-dimensional airfoil chordwise coordinate T p = CST-Vandermonde matrix of order p σ axial = axial stress due to the skin length variation [Pa]σ bend = bending stress due to the skin curvature variation [Pa]
This paper presents a design tool based on computational methods for the aerostructural analysis and optimization of aircraft layouts at the conceptual design stage. The whole methodology is based upon the integration of geometry construction and aerodynamic and structural analysis codes that combine depictive, computational, analytical, and semiempirical methods validated in an aircraft design environment. The main module for structural sizing and numerical aeroelastic analysis, named NeoCASS (next-generation conceptual aerostructural sizing suite), is presented here. The numerical kernel handling the aerostructural interaction enables the creation of efficient low-order high-fidelity models that are particularly suitable within a multidisciplinary design optimization framework to drive the optimization tool in the most appropriate direction. This makes it possible to address adverse aeroelastic issues, such as divergence, control surface reversal, flutter, and increased drag at cruise speed due to structural deformation. All of these issues generally lead to considerable changes in the structural design, which in turn might pose limitations on the flight envelope or weight penalties. The late discovery of these types of issues may result in significant cost increases and, in some cases, it may lead to the termination of the project. To overcome and remove these issues, the influence of structural deformation on flight and handling performances, of weight, and of design costs needs to be taken into account as early as possible in the design process
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