Morphing Wing Real Time Optimization in Wind Tunnel Tests (original) (raw)
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Real Time Morphing Wing Optimization Validation Using Wind-Tunnel Tests
Journal of Aircraft, 2010
In this paper, wind tunnel results of a real time optimization of a morphing wing in wind tunnel for delaying the transition towards the trailing edge are presented. A morphing rectangular finite aspect ratio wing, having a WTEA reference airfoil cross-section, was considered with its upper surface made of a flexible composite material and instrumented with Kulite pressure sensors, and two smart memory alloys actuators. Several wind tunnel tests runs for various Mach numbers, angles of attack and Reynolds numbers were performed in the 6'×9' wind tunnel at the Institute for Aerospace Research at the National Research Council Canada (IAR/NRC). Unsteady pressure signals were recorded and used as feed back in real time control while the morphing wing was requested to reproduce various optimized airfoils by changing automatically the two actuators strokes. The paper shows the optimization method implemented into the control software code that allows the morphing wing to adjust its shape to an optimum configuration under the wind tunnel airflow conditions. Nomenclature b = span of wing model (m) c = chord of wing airfoil (m) C D = drag coefficient C L = lift coefficient C p = pressure coefficient M = Mach number N = natural logarithm of rapport between amplified perturbation and initial perturbation in laminar flow Re = Reynolds number x tr = transition position (m) = angle of attack of the wing (º)
Design and experimental validation of a control system for a morphing wing
AIAA Atmospheric Flight Mechanics Conference 2012, 2012
The paper presents a smart way to actuate and to control the airfoil shape of a morphing wing. The actuation system development is based on some smart material actuators like Shape Memory Alloys, disposed in two parallel actuation lines, and its control is performed by using a fuzzy logic PD controller of Mamdani type.
Experimental wind tunnel testing of a new multidisciplinary morphing wing model
2016
The paper presents the development of an experimental morphing wing model and its performance evaluation by using some wind tunnel tests. The model was designed, fabricated and tested during a multidisciplinary collaborative research project involving industrial partners, research entities and academia from Canada and Italy. It was based on the dimensions of a full scale wing tip structure, being equipped with a morphable flexible upper surface made from composite materials and deformed by using four miniature electrical actuators, with an array of 32 Kulite pressure sensors to monitor the air flow behavior over the upper surface, and with an aileron also electrical actuated. In the paper are successively exposed: 1) a short project presentation; 2) the skin shape optimization; 3) the instrumentation of the morphing wing model and the mechanisms used to control it; 4) the wind tunnel aerodynamic results analysis by using an infrared camera. Key-Words: Morphing wing, Numerical optimi...
2020
In order to protect our environment by reducing the aviation carbon emissions and making the airline operations more fuel efficient, internationally, various collaborations were established between the academia and aeronautical industries around the world. Following the successful research and development efforts of the CRIAQ 7.1 project, the CRIAQ MDO 505 project was launched with a goal of maximizing the potential of electric aircraft. In the MDO 505, novel morphing wing actuators based on brushless DC motors are used. These actuators are placed chord-wise on two actuation lines. The demonstrator wing, included ribs, spars and a flexible skin, that is composed of glass fiber. The 2D and 3D models of the wing were developed in XFOIL and Fluent. These wing models can be programmed to morph the wing at various flight conditions composed of various Mach numbers, angles of attack and Reynolds number by allowing the computation of various optimized airfoils. The wing was tested in the w...
Control Strategies for an Experimental Morphing Wing Model
The paper presents the control strategies used in an experimental morphing wing model starting from the open loop architecture until a real time optimized closed loop architecture. Three control methods are exposed here, methods designed to obtain and maintain some optimized airfoils during the wind tunnel tests. Also, for all designed architectures the experimental control results are shown. First method uses a database stored in the computer memory, database which contains some optimized airfoils correlated with the airflow cases as combinations of Mach numbers and angles of attack. The method is based on a controller that takes as reference value the necessary displacement of the actuators from the database in order to obtain the morphing wing optimized airfoil shape. The second method uses a similar controller as the first method but the control loop is built around the changes of the Cp values calculated by XFoil software in two fixed positions along the chord of the wing, posi...
Control of a Morphing Wing in Bench Tests
In this paper, the design methodology and test results of a morphing wing controller are presented. Bench tests on optimized airfoils at various Mach numbers, angles of attack and Reynolds numbers were performed at the LAMSI laboratory. A rectangular finite aspect ratio wing having a morphing airfoil cross section due to a flexible skin installed on the wing upper surface was instrumented with two shape memory alloys actuators which created the two control points displacements on the flexible skin in order to realize the optimized airfoil shapes. These optimized airfoils were previously calculated for each airflow condition as a combination of angles of attack and Mach numbers such that the transition point position was found to be the nearest possible to the trailing edge. In the bench tests, the airfoil shapes were scanned by use of a laser beam. Then, the scanned airfoils were compared to the sets of theoretical optimized airfoils and to the sets of simulated airfoils using the finite element method model.
Aerostructural Model for Morphing Laminar Wing Optimization in a Wind Tunnel
Journal of Aircraft, 2011
An aerostructural numerical model of a two-dimensional morphing laminar wing prototype is built and validated for different flight conditions: Mach numbers ranging from 0.2 to 0.3 and angles of attack ranging from 1 to 2. The active structure of the wing is modeled using the ANSYS commercial finite element software. The aerostructural interaction is achieved by coupling the XFoil free-license aerodynamic solver to ANSYS. This model is used to minimize the drag force under constant-lift conditions during wind-tunnel testing using a two-step optimization algorithm (global and local search). The wake pressure wind-tunnel measurements show that extrados morphing results in an average 18.5% drag reduction for eight flow cases covering the flow condition range of interest. Simultaneously, the infrared thermography measurements record an average laminar flow extension of 25% of the wing chord over the upper wing surface. The experimental and numerical results are in good agreement, thus validating the use of an aerostructural model to efficiently manage the shape of a morphing laminar wing.
Modeling and Testing of a Morphing Wing in Open-Loop Architecture
Journal of Aircraft, 2010
This paper presents the modeling and the experimental testing of the aerodynamic performance of a morphing wing in open-loop architecture. We show the method used to acquire the pressure data from the external surface of the flexible wing skin, using incorporated Kulite pressure sensors and the instrumentation of the morphing controller.
Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, 2011
This chapter presents the design and the validation of the actuators control system for a morphing wing application. Some smart materials, like Shape Memory Alloy (SMA), are used as actuators to modify the upper surface of the wing made of a flexible skin. The finally adopted control law is a combination of a bi-positional law and a PI law. The controller is validated in two experimental ways: bench test and wind tunnel test. All optimized airfoil cases, used in the design phase, are converted into actuators vertical displacements which are used as inputs reference for the controller. In the wind tunnel tests a comparative study is realized around of the transition point position for the reference airfoil and for each optimized airfoil.