Span Morphing Using the Compliant Spar
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 28, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper develops and models the compliant spar concept that allows the wingspan to be varied to provide roll control and enhance the operational performance for a medium altitude, long endurance (MALE) UAV. The wing semispan is split into morphing partitions and the concept may be incorporated in each partition; however, only the tip partition is considered here. The compliant spar is made of compliant joints arranged in series to allow the partition to be flexible under axial (spanwise) loads, but at the same time stiff enough to resist bending loads. Each compliant joint consists of two concentric overlapping AL 2024-T3 tubes joined together using elastomeric material. Under axial (spanwise) loading, the elastomeric material deforms in shear, allowing the overlapping distance between the tubes to vary and hence the length (in the spanwise direction) of the joint/spar to vary. High fidelity modeling of the concept is performed. Then, structural design optimization studies are performed to minimize the axial stiffness and the structural mass of the concept for various design constraints. The flexible skin and actuation system to be used are also addressed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
M. I. Friswell acknowledges the support from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement n. [247045]. E. I. Saavedra Flores acknowledges the support of the Department of Civil Engineering, University of Santiago, Chile.
References
Ajaj, R. M., et al. (2012a). “Structural design and modelling of the zigzag wingbox for span morphing wing.” 3rd RAeS Aircraft Structural Design Conf., Royal Aeronautical Society, London, U.K.
Ajaj, R. M., et al. (2013). “The zigzag wingbox for a span morphing wing.” Aerosp. Sci. Technol., 28(1), 364–375.
Ajaj, R. M., et al. (2014). “An integrated conceptual design study using span morphing technology.” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 25(8), 989–1008.
Ajaj, R. M., Friswell, M. I., Saavedra Flores, E. I., Little, O., and Isikveren, A. T. (2012b). “Span morphing: A conceptual design study.” 20th AIAA/ASME/AHS Adaptive Structures Conf., AIAA-2012-1510, Honolulu, HI.
ANSYS 13 [Computer software]. Academic Research, Help System, ANSYS.
Austin, R. (2010). Unmanned aircraft systems: UAV design, development, and deployment, Wiley, West Sussex, U.K.
Bae, J. S., Seigler, T. M., and Inman, D. J. (2005). “Aerodynamic and aeroelastic characteristics of a variable-span morphing wing.” J. Aircr., 42(2), 528–534.
Barbarino, S., Bilgen, O., Ajaj, R. M., Friswell, M. I., and Inman, D. J. (2011). “A review of morphing aircraft.” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 22(9), 823–877.
Blondeau, J., and Pines, D. (2007). “Design and testing of a pneumatic telescopic wing for unmanned aerial vehicles.” J. Aircr., 44(4), 1088–1099.
Blondeau, J., Richeson, J., and Pines, D. J. (2003). “Design, development and testing of a morphing aspect ratio wing using an inflatable telescopic spar.” 44th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Conf., American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA.
Bubert, E. A., Woods, B. K. S., Lee, K., Kothera, C. S., and Wereley, N. M. (2010). “Design and fabrication of a passive 1D morphing aircraft skin.” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 21(17), 1699–1717.
Bye, D. R., and McClure, P. D. (2007). “Design of a morphing vehicle.” 48th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conf., AIAA 2007-1728, Honolulu, HI.
Chipperfield, A. J., and Fleming, P. J. (1996). “The Matlab genetic algorithm toolbox.” IEE Colloquium on Applied Control Techniques Using Matlab, Digest No.1995/014.
Chipperfield, A. J., Fleming, P. J., and Fonseca, C. M. (1994). “Genetic algorithm tools for control systems engineering.” Proc., 1st Int. Conf. Adaptive Computing in Engineering Design and Control, Plymouth Engineering Design Centre, U.K., 128–133.
Groover, M. P. (2010). Fundamentals of modern manufacturing: Materials, processes, and systems, 4th Ed., Wiley, New York.
Ivanco, T. G., Scott, R. C., Love, M. H., Zink, S., and Weisshaar, T. A. (2007). “Validation of the Lockheed Martin morphing concept with wind tunnel testing.” 48th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conf., AIAA 2007-2235, Honolulu, HI.
Love, M. H., Zink, P. S., Stroud, R. L., Bye, D. R., Rizk, S., and White, D. (2007). “Demonstration of morphing technology through ground and wind tunnel tests.” 48th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conf., AIAA 2007-1729, Honolulu, HI.
McCormik, B. W. (1995). Aerodynamics, aeronautics and flight mechanics, 2nd Ed., Wiley, New York.
Melin, T. (2000a). “A vortex lattice Matlab implementation for linear aerodynamic wing applications.” Master’s thesis, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Dept. of Aeronautics, Sweden.
Melin, T. (2000b). “User’s guide and reference manual for Tornado.” Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Dept. of Aeronautics, Sweden.
Murray, G., Gandhi, F., and Bakis, C. (2010). “Flexible matrix composite skins for one-dimensional wing morphing.” J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 21(17), 1771–1781.
Neubauer, M., Gunther, G., and Fullhas, K. (2007). “Structural design aspects and criteria for military UAV.”, EADS Defence and Security, Florence, Italy.
Seigler, T. M., Bae, J. S., and Inman, D. J. (2004). “Flight control of a variable span cruise missile.” Proc., 2004 ASME Int. Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Dynamic Systems and Control, Anaheim, CA, 565–574.
Seigler, T. M., Neal, D. A., Bae, J. S., and Inman, D. J. (2007). “Modeling and flight control of large-scale morphing aircraft.” J. Aircr., 44(4), 1077–1087.
Torenbeek, E. (1992). “Development and application of a comprehensive, design-sensitive weight prediction model for wing structures of transport category aircraft.”, Delft Univ. of Technology, Delft, Netherlands.
Weisshaar, T. A. (2006). “Morphing aircraft technology—New shapes for aircraft design.” Multifunctional Structures / Integration of Sensors and Antennas (pp. O1-1 – O1-20). Meeting Proc., RTO-MP-AVT-141, RTO, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 28 • Issue 4 • July 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 12, 2013
Accepted: Jun 9, 2014
Published online: Aug 11, 2014
Discussion open until: Jan 11, 2015
Published in print: Jul 1, 2015
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.