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In the present work the design of a wing tip device is presented along with the definition of the maneuver load controller and the gust load controller. A parametric sensitivity study has been performed to define the aerodynamic shape of the device, considering its effect on the dynamic properties of the aeroelastic system. After defining the aerodynamic shape the maneuver load alleviation controller and the gust load alleviation controller are described, the former is obtained by finding the distribution of surface deflections that can minimize the internal loads in a trim condition, while for the latter two different strategies are compared, one based on a static output feedback controller and the second based on a recurrent neural network controller. The active wing tip extension designed results able to contribute to the alleviation of wing dynamic loads and can compensate the increment of such loads resulting from the span extension.

This paper presents a preliminary study on the improvement of the fuel efficiency of a civil transport aircraft, focusing on the aero-elastic optimization of an increased aspect ratio wingbox. The wing is stretched, increasing its aspect ratio, and a trade-off between the improved aerodynamic efficiency and the structural mass identifies an optimal aspect ratio for such aircraft. The aeroelastic optimization is performed with NeOPT, a structural optimizer for conceptual and preliminary design phases. The analysis considers different materials and structural solutions for the wingbox and tackles aeroelastic constraints, such as flutter and aileron efficiency, from the preliminary design phases. The fuel consumption of the sized aircraft is evaluated with a simplified approach that provides an indication of the fuel efficiency. The results show how a composite wing with increased aspect ratio can save up to 6.9% of fuel burnt with respect to the baseline aluminum wing. The results are extended at fleet level, achieving a 2-million-ton cut in CO2 emissions and a saving of USD 1.28 million on fuel-related costs.

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