Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft
Aircraft winglets are well-established devices that improve aircraft fuel efficiency by enabling a higher lift over drag ratios and lower induced drag. Retrofitting winglets to existing aircraft also increases aircraft payload/range by the same order of the fuel burn savings, although the additional...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/5/2439 |
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| author | Ignazio Dimino Giovanni Andreutti Frédéric Moens Federico Fonte Rosario Pecora Antonio Concilio |
| author_facet | Ignazio Dimino Giovanni Andreutti Frédéric Moens Federico Fonte Rosario Pecora Antonio Concilio |
| author_sort | Ignazio Dimino |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aircraft winglets are well-established devices that improve aircraft fuel efficiency by enabling a higher lift over drag ratios and lower induced drag. Retrofitting winglets to existing aircraft also increases aircraft payload/range by the same order of the fuel burn savings, although the additional loads and moments imparted to the wing may impact structural interfaces, adding more weight to the wing. Winglet installation on aircraft wing influences numerous design parameters and requires a proper balance between aerodynamics and weight efficiency. Advanced dynamic aeroelastic analyses of the wing/winglet structure are also crucial for this assessment. Within the scope of the Clean Sky 2 REG IADP Airgreen 2 project, targeting novel technologies for next-generation regional aircraft, this paper deals with the integrated design of a full-scale morphing winglet for the purpose of improving aircraft aerodynamic efficiency in off-design flight conditions, lowering wing-bending moments due to maneuvers and increasing aircraft flight stability through morphing technology. A fault-tolerant morphing winglet architecture, based on two independent and asynchronous control surfaces with variable camber and differential settings, is presented. The system is designed to face different flight situations by a proper action on the movable control tabs. The potential for reducing wing and winglet loads by means of the winglet control surfaces is numerically assessed, along with the expected aerodynamic performance and the actuation systems’ integration in the winglet surface geometry. Such a device was designed by CIRA for regional aircraft installation, whereas the aerodynamic benefits and performance were estimated by ONERA on the natural laminar flow wing. An active load controller was developed by PoliMI and UniNA performed aeroelastic trade-offs and flutter calculations due to the coupling of winglet movable harmonics and aircraft wing bending and torsion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:23:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-26d31c2e25654247a0601385889901dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T13:23:55Z |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-26d31c2e25654247a0601385889901dc2023-11-21T09:46:56ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-03-01115243910.3390/app11052439Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional AircraftIgnazio Dimino0Giovanni Andreutti1Frédéric Moens2Federico Fonte3Rosario Pecora4Antonio Concilio5Adaptive Structures Technologies, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre, CIRA, Via Maiorise, 81043 Capua, ItalyMultidisciplinary Design and Analysis, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre, CIRA, Via Maiorise, 81043 Capua, ItalyAerodynamics Aeroelasticity and Acoustics Department, The French Aerospace Lab, ONERA, 92190 Meudon, FranceDepartment of Aerospace Science and Technology, Politecnico di Milano, Via La Masa 34, 20156 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Industrial Engineering—Aerospace Division, University of Naples “Federico II”, Via Claudio 21, 80125 Napoli, ItalyAdaptive Structures Division, The Italian Aerospace Research Centre, CIRA, Via Maiorise, 81043 Capua, ItalyAircraft winglets are well-established devices that improve aircraft fuel efficiency by enabling a higher lift over drag ratios and lower induced drag. Retrofitting winglets to existing aircraft also increases aircraft payload/range by the same order of the fuel burn savings, although the additional loads and moments imparted to the wing may impact structural interfaces, adding more weight to the wing. Winglet installation on aircraft wing influences numerous design parameters and requires a proper balance between aerodynamics and weight efficiency. Advanced dynamic aeroelastic analyses of the wing/winglet structure are also crucial for this assessment. Within the scope of the Clean Sky 2 REG IADP Airgreen 2 project, targeting novel technologies for next-generation regional aircraft, this paper deals with the integrated design of a full-scale morphing winglet for the purpose of improving aircraft aerodynamic efficiency in off-design flight conditions, lowering wing-bending moments due to maneuvers and increasing aircraft flight stability through morphing technology. A fault-tolerant morphing winglet architecture, based on two independent and asynchronous control surfaces with variable camber and differential settings, is presented. The system is designed to face different flight situations by a proper action on the movable control tabs. The potential for reducing wing and winglet loads by means of the winglet control surfaces is numerically assessed, along with the expected aerodynamic performance and the actuation systems’ integration in the winglet surface geometry. Such a device was designed by CIRA for regional aircraft installation, whereas the aerodynamic benefits and performance were estimated by ONERA on the natural laminar flow wing. An active load controller was developed by PoliMI and UniNA performed aeroelastic trade-offs and flutter calculations due to the coupling of winglet movable harmonics and aircraft wing bending and torsion.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/5/2439morphing wingletaerodynamic designactive load controlleraeroelasticity |
| spellingShingle | Ignazio Dimino Giovanni Andreutti Frédéric Moens Federico Fonte Rosario Pecora Antonio Concilio Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft Applied Sciences morphing winglet aerodynamic design active load controller aeroelasticity |
| title | Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft |
| title_full | Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft |
| title_fullStr | Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft |
| title_short | Integrated Design of a Morphing Winglet for Active Load Control and Alleviation of Turboprop Regional Aircraft |
| title_sort | integrated design of a morphing winglet for active load control and alleviation of turboprop regional aircraft |
| topic | morphing winglet aerodynamic design active load controller aeroelasticity |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/5/2439 |
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