Optimization and design of an aircraft's morphing wing-tip demonstrator for drag reduction at low speeds,Part Ⅱ-Experimental validation using Infra-Red transition measurement from Wind Tunnel tests

In the present paper, an ‘in-house' genetic algorithm was numerically and experimentally validated. The genetic algorithm was applied to an optimization problem for improving the aerodynamic performances of an aircraft wing tip through upper surface morphing. The optimization was performed for 16 flight cases expressed in terms of various combinations of speeds, angles of attack and aileron deflections. The displacements resulted from the optimization were used during the wind tunnel tests of the wing tip demonstrator for the actuators control to change the upper surface shape of the wing. The results of the optimization of the flow behavior for the airfoil morphing upper-surface problem were validated with wind tunnel experimental transition results obtained with infra-red Thermography on the wing-tip demonstrator. The validation proved that the 2D numerical optimization using the ‘in-house' genetic algorithm was an appropriate tool in improving various aspects of a wing's aerodynamic performances.     

A new non-linear vortex lattice method:Applications to wing aerodynamic optimizations

This paper presents a new non-linear formulation of the classical Vortex Lattice Method (VLM) approach for calculating the aerodynamic properties of lifting surfaces. The method accounts for the effects of viscosity, and due to its low computational cost, it represents a very good tool to perform rapid and accurate wing design and optimization procedures. The mathematical model is constructed by using two-dimensional viscous analyses of the wing span-wise sections, according to strip theory, and then coupling the strip viscous forces with the forces generated by the vortex rings distributed on the wing camber surface, calculated with a fully three-dimensional vortex lifting law. The numerical results obtained with the proposed method are validated with experimental data and show good agreement in predicting both the lift and pitching moment, as well as in predicting the wing drag. The method is applied to modifying the wing of an Unmanned Aerial System to increase its aerodynamic efficiency and to calculate the drag reductions obtained by an upper surface morphing technique for an adaptable regional aircraft wing.     

Optimization and design of an aircraft's morphing wing-tip demonstrator for drag reduction at low speed,Part Ⅰ–Aerodynamic optimization using genetic,bee colony and gradient descent algorithms

In this paper, an ‘in-house' genetic algorithm is described and applied to an optimization problem for improving the aerodynamic performances of an aircraft wing tip through upper surface morphing. The algorithm's performances were studied from the convergence point of view, in accordance with design conditions. The algorithm was compared to two other optimization methods,namely the artificial bee colony and a gradient method, for two optimization objectives, and the results of the optimizations with each of the three methods were plotted on response surfaces obtained with the Monte Carlo method, to show that they were situated in the global optimum region. The optimization results for 16 wind tunnel test cases and 2 objective functions were presented. The 16 cases used for the optimizations were included in the experimental test plan for the morphing wing-tip demonstrator, and the results obtained using the displacements given by the optimizations were evaluated.     

Computational aerodynamic analysis on perimeter reinforced （PR）-compliant wing

Abstract Implementing the morphing technique on a micro air vehicle （MAV） wing is a very chal- lenging task, due to the MAWs wing size limitation and the complex morphing mechanism. As a result, understanding aerodynamic characteristics and flow configurations, subject to wing structure deformation of a morphing wing MAV has remained obstructed. Thus, this paper presents the investigation of structural deformation, aerodynamics performance and flow formation on a pro- posed twist morphing MAV wing design named perimeter reinforced （PR）-compliant wing. The numerical simulation of two-way fluid structure interaction （FSI） investigation consist of a quasi- static aeroelastic structural analysis coupled with 3D incompressible Reynolds-averaged Navier- Stokes and shear-stress-transport （RANS-SST） solver utilized throughout this study. Verification of numerical method on a rigid rectangular wing achieves a good correlation with available exper- imental results. A comparative aeroelastic study between PR-compliant to PR and rigid wing per- formance is organized to elucidate the morphing wing performances. Structural deformation results show that PR-compliant wing is able to alter the wing＇s geometric twist characteristic, which has directly influenced both the overall aerodynamic performance and flow structure behavior. Despite the superior lift performance result, PR-compliant wing also suffers from massive drag penalty, which has consequently affected the wing efficiency in general. Based on vortices investigation, the results reveal the connection between these aerodynamic performances with vortices formation on PR-comoliant wing.     

Gain self-scheduled H_∞ control for morphing aircraft in the wing transition process based on an LPV model

This article investigates gain self-scheduled H 1 robust control system design for a tailless fold- ing-wing morphing aircraft in the wing shape varying process. During the wing morphing phase, the aircraft’s dynamic response will be governed by time-varying aerodynamic forces and moments. Nonlinear dynamic equations of the morphing aircraft are linearized by using Jacobian linearization approach, and a linear parameter varying (LPV) model of the morphing aircraft in wing folding is obtained. A multi-loop controller for the morphing aircraft is formulated to guarantee stability for the wing shape transition process. The proposed controller uses a set of inner-loop gains to provide stability using classical techniques, whereas a gain self-scheduled H 1 outer-loop controller is devised to guarantee a specific level of robust stability and performance for the time-varying dynamics. The closed-loop simulations show that speed and altitude vary slightly during the whole wing folding process, and they converge rapidly after the process ends. This proves that the gain self-scheduled H 1 robust controller can guarantee a satisfactory dynamic performance for the morphing aircraft during the whole wing shape transition process. Finally, the flight control system’s robustness for the wing folding process is verified according to uncertainties of the aerodynamic parameters in the nonlinear model.     

Nonlinear dynamics of a flapping rotary wing: Modeling and optimal wing kinematic analysis

The analysis of the passive rotation feature of a micro Flapping Rotary Wing(FRW)applicable for Micro Air Vehicle(MAV) design is presented in this paper. The dynamics of the wing and its influence on aerodynamic performance of FRW is studied at low Reynolds number(~10~3).The FRW is modeled as a simplified system of three rigid bodies: a rotary base with two flapping wings. The multibody dynamic theory is employed to derive the motion equations for FRW. A quasi-steady aerodynamic model is utilized for the calculation of the aerodynamic forces and moments. The dynamic motion process and the effects of the kinematics of wings on the dynamic rotational equilibrium of FWR and the aerodynamic performances are studied. The results show that the passive rotation motion of the wings is a continuous dynamic process which converges into an equilibrium rotary velocity due to the interaction between aerodynamic thrust, drag force and wing inertia. This causes a unique dynamic time-lag phenomena of lift generation for FRW, unlike the normal flapping wing flight vehicle driven by its own motor to actively rotate its wings. The analysis also shows that in order to acquire a high positive lift generation with high power efficiency and small dynamic time-lag, a relative high mid-up stroke angle within 7–15° and low mid-down stroke angle within -40° to -35° are necessary. The results provide a quantified guidance for design option of FRW together with the optimal kinematics of motion according to flight performance requirement.     

Design and experiment of concentrated flexibility-based variable camber morphing wing

The morphing wing has a significant positive effect on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. This paper describes a leading-edge of variable camber wing with concentrated flexibility based on the geared five-bar mechanism. The driving points of morphing skin formed by the glass fibre composite sheet were optimized to make the skin deformation smooth. A geared fivebar kinematic mechanism rigidly connected to the skin was proposed to drive the leading-edge deformation. Besides, a new kind o...     

Aerodynamic performance enhancement of a flying wing using nanosecond pulsed DBD plasma actuator

Experimental investigation of aerodynamic control on a 35 swept flying wing by means of nanosecond dielectric barrier discharge(NS-DBD) plasma was carried out at subsonic flow speed of 20–40 m/s, corresponding to Reynolds number of 3.1 · 105–6.2 · 105. In control condition, the plasma actuator was installed symmetrically on the leading edge of the wing. Lift coefficient, drag coefficient, lift-to-drag ratio and pitching moment coefficient were tested with and without control for a range of angles of attack. The tested results indicate that an increase of 14.5% in maximum lift coefficient, a decrease of 34.2% in drag coefficient, an increase of 22.4% in maximum lift-to-drag ratio and an increase of 2 at stall angle of attack could be achieved compared with the baseline case. The effects of pulsed frequency, amplitude and chord Reynolds number were also investigated.And the results revealed that control efficiency demonstrated strong dependence on pulsed frequency. Moreover, the results of pitching moment coefficient indicated that the breakdown of leading edge vortices could be delayed by plasma actuator at low pulsed frequencies.     

Aerodynamic optimization design of general parameters for cycloidal propeller in hover based on surrogate model

A surrogate-model-based aerodynamic optimization design method for cycloidal propeller in hover was proposed, in order to improve its aerodynamic efficiency, and analyze the basic criteria for its aerodynamic optimization design. The reliability and applicability of overset mesh method were verified. An optimization method based on Kriging surrogate model was proposed to optimize the geometric parameters for cycloidal propeller in hover with the use of genetic algorithm. The optimization results showed that the thrust coefficient was increased by 3.56%, the torque coefficient reduced by 12.05%, and the figure of merit (FM) increased by 19.93%. The optimization results verified the feasibility of this design idea. Although the optimization was only carried out at a single rotation speed, the aerodynamic efficiency was also significantly improved over a wide range of rotation speeds. The optimal configuration characteristics for micro and small-sized cycloidal propeller were: solidity of 0.2-0.22, maximum pitch angle of 25°-35°, pitch axis locating at 35%-45% of the blade chord length.      

Transient aeroelastic responses and flutter analysis of a variable-span wing during the morphing process

To investigate the transient aeroelastic responses and flutter characteristics of a variablespan wing during the morphing process,a novel frst-order state-space aeroelastic model is proposed.The time-varying structural model of the morphing wing is established based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory with time-dependent boundary conditions.A nondimensionalization method is used to translate the time-dependent boundary conditions to be time-independent.The time-domain aerodynamic forces are calculated by the reduced-order unsteady vortex lattice method.The morphing parameters,i.e.,wing span length and morphing speed,are of particular interest for understanding the fundamental aeroelastic behavior of variable-span wings.A test case is proposed and numerical results indicate that the flutter characteristics are sensitive to both of the two morphing parameters.It could be noticed that the aeroelastic characteristics during the wing extracting process are more serious than those during the extending process at the same morphing speed by transient aeroelastic response analysis.In addition,a faster morphing process can get better aeroelastic performance while the mechanism comlexity will arise.     

Optimization of aerodynamic efficiency for twist morphing MAV wing

Twist morphing(TM) is a practical control technique in micro air vehicle(MAV) flight.However, TM wing has a lower aerodynamic efficiency(CL/CD) compared to membrane and rigid wing. This is due to massive drag penalty created on TM wing, which had overwhelmed the successive increase in its lift generation. Therefore, further CL/CDmaxoptimization on TM wing is needed to obtain the optimal condition for the morphing wing configuration. In this paper, two-way fluid–structure interaction(FSI) simulation and wind tunnel testing method are used to solve and study the basic wing aerodynamic performance over(non-optimal) TM, membrane and rigid wings. Then,a multifidelity data metamodel based design optimization(MBDO) process is adopted based on the Ansys-DesignXplorer frameworks. In the adaptive MBDO process, Kriging metamodel is used to construct the final multifidelity CL/CDresponses by utilizing 23 multi-fidelity sample points from the FSI simulation and experimental data. The optimization results show that the optimal TM wing configuration is able to produce better CL/CDmaxmagnitude by at least 2% than the non-optimal TM wings. The flow structure formation reveals that low TV strength on the optimal TM wing induces low CDgeneration which in turn improves its overall CL/CDmaxperformance.     

Experimental investigation and correlation development of jet impingement heat transfer with two rows of aligned jet holes on an internal surface of a wing leading edge

Extensive experimental studies on the heat transfer characteristics of two rows of aligned jet holes impinging on a concave surface in a wing leading edge were conducted, where50000 Rej 90000, 1.74 H/d 27.5, 66° a 90°, and 13.2 r/d 42.03. The finding was that the heat transfer performance at the jet-impingement stagnation point with two rows of aligned jet holes was the same as that with a single row of jet holes or the middle row of three-row configurations when the circumferential angle of the two jet holes was larger than 30°. The attenuation coefficient distribution of the jet impingement heat transfer in the chordwise direction was so complicated that two zones were divided for a better analysis. It indicated that: the attenuation coefficient curve in the jet impingement zone exhibited an approximate upside-down bell shape with double peaks and a single valley; the attenuation coefficient curve in the non-jet impingement zone was like a half-bell shape, which was similar to that with three rows of aligned jet holes; the factors,including Rej, H/d and r/d, affected the attenuation coefficient value at the valley significantly.When r/d was increased from 30.75 to 42.03, the attenuation rates of attenuation coefficient increased only by 1.8%. Consequently, experimental data-based correlation equations of the Nusselt number for the heat transfer at the jet-impingement stagnation point and the distributionof the attenuation coefficient in the chordwise direction were acquired, which play an important role in designing the wing leading edge anti-icing system with two rows of aligned jet holes.     

A step deformation method for superplasticity improvement of coarse-grained Ti–15V–3Cr-3Sn-3Al

Ti–15V–3Cr–3Sn–3Al(Ti–15–3), a kind of metastable beta titanium which has high specific strength and good cold-formability, is highlighted for applications in the aerospace manufacture industry. However, the technique for improving its formability at elevated temperatures is still a challenge at present. In this work, a step deformation method is proposed for superplasticity improvement of coarse grained Ti–15–3 plates at temperatures around its beta transus. The effects of the strain rate and the strain at the first stage on the superplasticity are investigated. The results show an increase of the strain rate sensitivity and a decrease of the flow stress under the step deformation mode compared to those obtained under constant strain rates at 780℃. The maximum strain to failure obtained in the step mode is 93% higher than that deformed in the constant strain rate mode. Strain rates, strains at the first stage, and temperatures have influences on the superplasticity improvement. The deformation mechanism is concluded as subgrain formation accommodated by grain boundary sliding rate-controlled by dislocation climb. The improved m value in the step deformation is accounted to the extra dislocation density produced during the strain rate reduction.     

Aerodynamic optimization of an adaptive flap for next-generation green aircraft

Adaptive,morphing flaps are taking ever-increasing attention in civil aviation thanks to the expected benefits this technology can bring at the aircraft level in terms of high-lift performance improvement and related fuel burnt reduction per flight.Relying upon morphing capabilities,it is possible to fix a unique setting for the flap and adapt the flap shape to match the aerodynamic requirements for take-off or landing.The proper morphed shapes can assure better high-lift performances than those...     

Transonic wing stall of a blended flying wing common research model based on DDES method

Numerical simulation of wing stall of a blended flying wing configuration at transonic speed was conducted using both delayed detached eddy simulation(DDES) and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes(URANS) equations methods based on the shear stress transport(SST) turbulence model for a free-stream Mach number 0.9 and a Reynolds number 9.6 × 10~6. A joint time step/grid density study is performed based on power spectrum density(PSD) analysis of the frequency content of forces or moments, and medium mesh and the normalized time scale0.010 were suggested for this simulation. The simulation results show that the DDES methods perform more precisely than the URANS method and the aerodynamic coefficient results from DDES method compare very well with the experiment data. The angle of attack of nonlinear vortex lift and abrupt wing stall of DDES results compare well with the experimental data. The flow structure of the DDES computation shows that the wing stall is caused mainly by the leeward vortex breakdown which occurred at x/x_(cr)= 0.6 at angle of attack of 14°. The DDES methods show advantage in the simulation problem with separation flow. The computed result shows that a shock/vortex interaction is responsible for the wing stall caused by the vortex breakdown. The balance of the vortex strength and axial flow, and the shock strength, is examined to provide an explanation of the sensitivity of the breakdown location. Wing body thickness has a great influence on shock and shock/vortex interactions, which can make a significant difference to the vortex breakdown behavior and stall characteristic of the blended flying wing configuration.     

Numerical evaluation of tandem rotor for highly loaded transonic fan

Transonic tandem rotor was designed for highly loaded fan at a corrected tip speed of 381m/s and another conventional rotor was designed as a baseline to evaluate the loading superiority of tandem rotor with three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulation. The aft blade solidity and its impact on total loading level were studied in depth. The result indicates that tandem rotor has potential to achieve higher loading level and attain favorable aerodynamic performance in a wide range of loading coefficient 0.55~0.68, comparing with the conventional rotor which produced a total pressure ratio of 2.0 and loading coefficient of 0.42.      

Design and validation of a variable camber wing structure

Variable camber wing technology is one of the important development trends of green aviation at present.Through smooth,seamless,continuous and adaptive change of wing camber,the aerodynamic performance is improved in achieving increase in lift and reduction in resistance and noise.Based on the aerodynamic validation model CAE-AVM,Chinese Aeronautical Establishment(CAE) has carried out the design and validation of a variable camber wing,proposed an aerodynamic deformation matrix for the leading a...     

Experimental study of an anti-icing method over an airfoil based on pulsed dielectric barrier discharge plasma

Aircraft icing has long been a plague to aviation for its serious threat to flight safety. Even though lots of methods for anti-icing have been in use or studied for quite a long time, new methods are still in great demand for both civil and military aircraft. The current study in this paper uses widely used Dielectric Barrier Discharge(DBD) plasma actuation to anti-ice on a NACA0012 airfoil model with a chord length of 53.5 cm in a closed-circuit icing wind tunnel. An actuator was installed at the leading edge of the airfoil model, and actuated by a pulsed low-temperature plasma power source. The actuator has two types of layout, a striped electrode layout and a meshy electrode layout.The ice accretion process or anti-icing process was recorded by a CCD camera and an infrared camera. Instantaneous pictures and infrared contours show that both types of DBD plasma actuators have the ability for anti-ice under a freestream velocity of 90 m/s, a static temperature of -7℃,an Median Volume droplet Diameter(MVD) of 20 lm, and an Liquid Water Content(LWC) of 0.5 g/m~3. The detected variations of temperatures with time at specific locations reveal that the temperatures oscillate for some time after spraying at first, and then tend to be nearly constant values.This shows that the key point of the anti-icing mechanism with DBD plasma actuation is to achieve a thermal equilibrium on the model surface. Besides, the power consumption in the anti-icing process was estimated in this paper by Lissajous figures measured by an oscilloscope, and it is lower than those of existing anti-icing methods. The experimental results presented in this paper indicate that the DBD plasma anti-icing method is a promising technique in the future.     

Large-eddy simulation:Past,present and the future

Large-eddy simulation(LES) was originally proposed for simulating atmospheric flows in the 1960 s and has become one of the most promising and successful methodology for simulating turbulent flows with the improvement of computing power. It is now feasible to simulate complex engineering flows using LES. However, apart from the computing power, significant challenges still remain for LES to reach a level of maturity that brings this approach to the mainstream of engineering and industrial computations. This paper will describe briefly LES formalism first, present a quick glance at its history, review its current state focusing mainly on its applications in transitional flows and gas turbine combustor flows, discuss some major modelling and numerical challenges/issues that we are facing now and in the near future, and finish with the concluding remarks.     

A novel adaptive coordinated tracking control scheme for a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings

Inspired by flight biology,morphing flight technology has great potential to improve the adaptability and maneuverability of aircraft.This paper is devoted to the flight control problem of morphing aircraft,and aimed at safe and fuel-saving flight through morphing actively.Specifically,the longitudinal dynamics of a morphing aircraft with telescopic wings is modelled as a strictfeedback nonlinear system.Through fitting the expression of aerodynamic parameters by the morphing ratio,the model unce...