Further development of a variable camber morphing mechanism using the direct control airfoil geometry concept

Loudon, Kai; Bouferrouk, Abdessalem; Coleman, Bradley; Hughes, Fraser; Lewis, Ben; Parsons, Ben; Cole, Alex; Yao, Yufeng

Abstract

This paper reports on the design, manufacture and testing of an improved variable camber morphing wing mechanism following the study by Evans et al. (2016), who employed the so-called Direct Control Airfoil Geometry (DCAG) concept to actuate the trailing edge flap of a NACA 0012 wing. The skin attachment, the skin material and lack of automation were identified as the major inadequacies withholding proper functionality of the original prototype model. This paper thus discusses how these issues have been addressed and how further advancement was made in demonstrating the feasibility of the DCAG concept on a small-scale wing demonstrator. Specifically, the updated design incorporates a new skin, a flexible corrugated under skin structure, and a controller. It is shown that the new design has an improved aerodynamic efficiency compared with both a single slotted flap, and the original prototype model.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Symposium of Sustainable Aviation
• Start Date: Jul 9, 2018
• End Date: Jul 11, 2018
• Acceptance Date: Jul 9, 2018
• Publication Date: Jun 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: Jul 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 2, 2018
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: DCAG Concept, Variable Camber Morphing, Morphing Skin Material, Corrugation, Controller
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/865650
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : International Symposium of Sustainable Aviation
• Contract Date: Jul 18, 2018