Impact of N-Shaped Wing Morphing on Solar-Powered Aircraft

El-Salamony, Mostafa; Aziz, M. A.

doi:10.1142/s2301385021500138

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…An elliptical shape minimizes induced drag, but considering manufacturing complexity, a trapezoidal wing is optimal. To strike a balance between energy and aerodynamic performance, a combination of trapezoidal and flat sections is adopted for the wing's geometry [35]. The flat section has a span of 1.747 m and a chord length of 0.545 m. The first trapezoidal section has a span of 0.688 m and a taper ratio of 0.48794 m. The second trapezoidal section has a span of 0.465 m and a taper ratio of 0.3815 m. The spar remains straight and is located at 32.29% of the root chord, primarily considering the effects of solar panel installation.…”

Section: Geometric Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Design and Flight Validation of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Structure and Propulsion System

Guo,

Qiu,

et al. 2023

Energies

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The development of solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) primarily focuses on enhancing the efficiency of the propulsion system to minimize energy consumption during the conversion of valuable solar energy. However, due to the unique nature of UAV propulsion systems, there is limited cross-reference ability among existing solar-powered UAV systems. This paper proposes an integrated design approach for the propulsion system and UAV structure. Based on this approach, an overall design is conducted for the solar-powered UAV, including initial design goals and performance parameters. Aerodynamic layout design and performance estimation are carried out, and a prototype is fabricated and assembled for flight testing validation. The results demonstrate the significant importance of this approach in improving the efficiency of the solar-powered UAV propulsion system.

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Section: Geometric Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Integrated Design and Flight Validation of Solar-Powered Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Structure and Propulsion System

Guo,

Qiu,

et al. 2023

Energies

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“…In traditional layouts, furthermore, performance augmentation would concern only a specific point of the flight envelope of a general aircraft. Morphing technology promises to virtually equip an artificial intelligence vehicle with a series of shapes that could be accessed with continuity during the mission, shifting from one to another, depending on the environmental conditions, the current configuration parameters, the specific instantaneous needs, and so on [3,4]. It could be possible to separate benefits associated to civil, large passenger [5,6], military [7,8], and to unmanned aerial vehicle aircrafts [9,10], but this goes far beyond the scope of this paper.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Whirl Tower Demonstration of an SMA Blade Twist System

et al. 2022

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This paper focuses on the development and demonstration of a novel blade morphing system within a whirl tower facility. The scope is to investigate the behavior of the proposed architecture under representative loads, demonstrating its capability to alter the blade original shape in operation under centrifugal, aerodynamic, and internal forces. The morphing concept was developed inside the European project “Shape Adaptive Blades for Rotorcraft Efficiency”, SABRE, and consists of a shape memory alloy system able to change the original twist law and, in this way, enhance rotor performance at certain specific regimes, such as hover and vertical flight. These phases, indeed, are generally penalized with respect to other more extended flight regimes (cruise). The work starts with an overview of the research in the field of morphing, with specific reference to the researches envisaging rotary wing demonstrations. Then, an overview of the morphing twist concept is provided, with particular attention paid to those features particularly suited for the whirl tower representative test environment. The laboratory characterization and commissioning operations are illustrated. Then, the task of the installation of the prototype on the whirl tower facility is described together with the testing modality adopted. Finally, the results of the test campaign are illustrated and critically discussed, providing the reader with insights and possible future steps to be taken in further research. The impact on the morphing capability of the following different parameters was investigated: the number of the prototype segments switched on, the speed and thus the centrifugal actions, and the angles of attack. The stiffening effect due to centrifugal actions was quantified through the measurement of the actual twist and the internal deformation. The link between speed, angle of attack at root, and twist and flap angles was also tracked, building a database useful for the comprehension of the phenomenon, and for the assessment of numerical predictive models. The achieved results highlighted the capability of the system to produce a twist angle matching the target of 8° per blade radius; this figure is related to a potential power saving of 10% in hover and vertical flight and an improvement of about 1% on the over-all efficiency of the rotorcraft.

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