Drag optimisation of a wing equipped with a morphing upper surface

Abstract

The drag coefficient and the laminar-to-turbulent transition for the aerofoil component of a wing model are optimised using an adaptive upper surface with two actuation points. The effects of the new shaped aerofoils on the global drag coefficient of the wing model are also studied. The aerofoil was optimised with an 'in-house' genetic algorithm program coupled with a cubic spline aerofoil shape reconstruction and XFoil 6.96 open-source aerodynamic solver. The wing model analysis was performed with the open-source solver XFLR5 and the 3D Panel Method was used for the aerodynamic calculation. The results of the aerofoil optimisation indicate improvements of both the drag coefficient and transition delay of 2% to 4%. These improvements in the aerofoil characteristics affect the global drag of the wing model, reducing it by up to 2%. The analyses were conducted for a single Reynolds number and speed over a range of angles of attack. The same cases will also be used in the experimental testing of the manufactured morphing wing model.

Analysis of the Aerodynamic Performance of a Morphing Wing-Tip Demonstrator Using a Novel Nonlinear Vortex Lattice Method

“…corresponding to the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing model [34]. For the numerical optimizations, the upper skin shapes were approximated using cubic splines, as function of the actuator displacements.…”

Numerical simulation and wind tunnel tests investigation and validation of a morphing wing-tip demonstrator aerodynamic performance

“…In order to reduce greatly calculation times, the aerodynamic optimizations were performed under two-dimensional flow assumption using the XFOIL solver [39] and an in-house genetic algorithm optimizer [40], for local flow conditions (local Reynolds number and angle of attack) corresponding to the mean aerodynamic chord of the wing model [41].…”

Design, Manufacturing, and Testing of a New Concept for a Morphing Leading Edge using a Subsonic Blow Down Wind Tunnel

“…Thus, the LARCASE team collaborates with major players in the aeronautical engineering sector of Montreal. Through the Consortium of Research and Innovation in Aerospace in Quebec (CRIAQ) projects, several studies have been conducted with major research consortiums (CRIAQ 7.1 [7,8] and CRIAQ MDO 505 [9][10][11][12][13][14]) and internal projects have been conducted at the LARCASE laboratory, such as one project on the morphing of a wing equipped with an ATR-42 airfoil [15].…”