Preliminary Design Process for an Adaptive Winglet

Abstract

In the framework of Clean Sky 2 Airgreen 2 GRA ITD project, this paper deals with the design process of a morphing winglet for a regional aircraft. By improving A/C aerodynamic efficiency in off-design flight conditions, the morphing winglet is expected to operate during long (cruise) and short (climb and descent) mission phases to reduce aircraft drag and optimize lift distribution, while providing augmented roll and yaw control capability. The mechanical system is designed to face different flight situations by a proper action on the movable parts represented by two independent and asynchronous control surfaces with variable camber and differential settings. A set of suitable electromechanical actuators are integrated within the limited space inside the winglet loft-line, capable of holding prescribed deflections for long time operations. Such a solution mitigates the risks associated with critical failure cases (jamming, loss of WL control) with beneficial impacts on A/C safety. Numerical details on the system architecture and ability to cope with the typical mission loads profiles are given, along with a description of the conceptual analysis and the expected system performance according to a suitable metric.

Electromechanical Actuation for Morphing Winglets

“…In this paper, detailed numerical investigations were implemented for the characterization and integration of an electromechanically-based actuation into a finger-like mechanism-based morphing winglet. Apart from the aerodynamic benefits resulting from such a morphing device, estimated on the order of 2.5% LoD at high CL with respect to the optimal passive winglet counterpart [8], this approach ensures smoother morphing winglet aeroshapes and a more efficient distribution of the span-wise aerodynamic loading estimated by CFD simulations (Figure 1). Hinged mechanisms were implemented at the trailing edges to realize the morphing layout of two tabs, which can be independently deployed both upward and downward.…”

“…Morphing wing technology may be categorized according to two alternative design paradigms: compliant and kinematic architectures. In the former, the structure is designed to achieve specific aeroshapes through careful material distribution while resisting the external loads [7,8]. In kinematic architectures, the structure is articulated in different rigid parts moving according to a pre-defined mechanical law [9,10].…”

Design and Analysis of a Dynamic Loading System for a Morphing Winglet

“…A research group at the CIRA Italian Aerospace Research Council presented the design process of a morphing winglet for a regional aircraft. The study states that an adaptive winglet is a safety critical component, which requires the completion of a functional safety analysis [11].…”

Real-time Optimization and Increasing Efficiency of the Processes in the Petrochemical Industry

“…Changes in the market situation in many sectors -general saturation of the market and increased competition, the introduction of new environmental norms and standards, a general increase in the cost of production, high energy prices -all these and other reasons dictate the need for further development of automation in production, in particular, the transition to optimal management, first of all, on technical and economic indicators of production [3]. The class of systems that implement this in practice is called APC (Advanced Process Control).…”