Distributed actuation concepts for a morphing aileron device

Abstract

The actuation mechanism is a crucial aspect in the design of morphing structures due to the very stringent requirements involving actuation torque, consumed power, and allowable size and weight.\ud In the framework of the CRIAQ MD0-505 project, novel design strategies are investigated to enable morphing of aeronautical structures. This paper deals with the design of a morphing aileron with the main focus on the actuation technology. The morphing aileron consists of segmented ’finger-like’ ribs capable of changing the airfoil camber in order to match target aerodynamic shapes. In this work, lightweight and compact actuation kinematics driven by electromechanical actuators are investigated to actuate the morphing device. An unshafted distributed servo-electromechanical actuation arrangement is employed to realise the transition from the baseline configuration to a set of target aerodynamic shapes by also withstanding the aerodynamics loads. Numerical investigations are detailed to identify the optimal actuation architecture matching as well as the system integrability and structural compactness

Aeroelastic Stability Analysis of a Wind Tunnel Wing Model Equipped with a True Scale Morphing Aileron

“…The external structure is made up of segmented aluminum-alloy skin embedding standard gap-filler, as shown in Fig The ribs' kinematic is based on a oscillating glyph mechanism which transforms the actuator shaft rotation into a rib deflection by means of a leverage directly linked to the rib plate. This mechanism has been theoretically studied in [12], [13] and it has the advantage to exhibit an increasing torque amplification factor as the rib-morphing angle rises [13]. Further details on the actuation system are shown in Fig.…”

“…8) tailored for assessment of its dynamic behavior;  FE model of the morphing aileron ( Fig. 10) characterized by refined mesh specifically conceived for detailed stress analysis (further detail on the model in [13]) and properly updated by means of Ground Vibration Test (GVT) [17]. The complete test article finite-element model was generated in MSC-PATRAN®, and real eigenvalue extraction was performed, according to MSC-NASTRAN® SOL 103 protocol [16], by means of Lanczos Method in the frequency range of interest ([0 Hz; 80 Hz]) with eigenvectors normalized to the maximum value [16].…”

Preliminary design of an adaptive aileron for next generation regional aircraft

“…It is based on the classical quick-return mechanism, also referred to as oscillating glyph kinematics that (Fig. 7) is widely discussed and was validated by Amendola et al (2016). Figure 7 shows the main structural components of the glyph kinematic system.…”

“…The complete system is made of commercial elements: actuators, kinematics, linear guides and all the other devices are in fact available on the market. The implemented architecture is a slight modification of the so-called quick-return mechanism (Amendola et al, 2016). In this paper, the aileron structure is sized with respect to the designated load chosen among the most critical operative ones.…”

Electro-Actuation System Strategy for a Morphing Flap

“…A first remarkable distinction within the adaptive systems can be made according to two macro-groups of interest: mechanized and compliant architectures. The first one implements morphing through rigid roto-translation of linkages interconnected by kinematic chains, [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The sizing is led so that each kinematic sub-component withstands the external stresses foreseen in the real operating conditions; the actuators and the transmission lines must allow the correct kinematic behavior of the system, ensuring the achievement of target shape-configurations.…”