Analysis and Design of a Leading Edge with Morphing Capabilities for the Wing of a Regional Aircraft—Gapless Chord- and Camber-Increase for High-Lift Performance

Abstract

In order to contribute to achieving noise and emission reduction goals, Fraunhofer and Airbus deal with the development of a morphing leading edge (MLE) as a high lift device for aircraft. Within the European research program “Clean Sky 2”, a morphing leading edge with gapless chord- and camber-increase for high-lift performance was developed. The MLE is able to morph into two different aerofoils—one for cruise and one for take-off/landing, the latter increasing lift and stall angle over the former. The shape flexibility is realised by a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) skin optimised for bending and a sliding contact at the bottom. The material is selected in terms of type, thickness, and lay-up including ply-wise fibre orientation based on numerical simulation and material tests. The MLE is driven by an internal electromechanical actuation system. Load introduction into the skin is realised by span-wise stringers, which require specific stiffness and thermal expansion properties for this task. To avoid the penetration of a bird into the front spar of the wing in case of bird strike, a bird strike protection structure is proposed and analysed. In this paper, the designed MLE including aerodynamic properties, composite skin structure, actuation system, and bird strike behaviour is described and analysed.

Morphological Reconstruction for Variable Wing Leading Edge Based on the Node Curvature Vectors

“…Next, the construction of the curvature node vector for each arc segment is un taken. Taking the mth arc segment as an example, the curvature information from the endpoints and one internal node of this segment is utilized to construct a curvature n vector, denoted as qNode, as shown in Equation (5).…”

“…To achieve the "propagation-shifting" functionality of aircraft, ensuring their optimal aerodynamic profile, aerodynamic performance, and stealth characteristics in response to complex flight environments and mission requirements, it is essential to synchronize and close the loop control of the wing leading-edge propagation perception and airfoil adjustment [5,6].…”

Ground Strength Test Technique of Variable Camber Wing Leading Edge

“…The key technologies involved are mainly: small fast response intelligent drive technology and continuous deformable skin technology [4]. The research on variable camber wing mainly focuses on aerodynamic requirement analysis [5,6], intelligent flexible skin [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18], lightweight actuator [19], mechanical analysis [20][21][22][23][24][25]. In recent years, with the development of research, the leading edge of variable camber wing is developing towards solving the practical problems of engineering, that is, solving the problems of aeroelasticity, fatigue durability, bird impact resistance and de-icing in practical engineering applications [26].…”