The design of commercial aircraft wings requires a delicate performance compromise between a number of different flight scenarios. As conditions change during flight, wings are constantly performing sub-optimally to their design conditions. Morphing devices such as Variable Continuous Camber Trailing-Edge Flaps (VCCTEF) provide wings the opportunity of in-flight shape re-adaptation that allow aircraft to recover close-to-optimal performance amidst varying flight conditions. In order to assess the aerodynamic performance benefit of such technology, a wing model based on the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) equipped with VCCTEF is being manufactured for a real-time drag minimization experiment that will take place at the University of Washington Kirsten Wind Tunnel. The objective of this paper was to perform an aerodynamic shape optimization of this wind tunnel wing model equipped with 6 two-segment trailing-edge flaps distributed along the span, utilizing a conceptual design level computational framework to support the upcoming wind tunnel test. A quasi-3D aerodynamic tool combining a 3D Vortex Lattice Method code (AVL) with a 2D Euler solver strongly coupled with integral boundary layer (MSES) was utilized to calculate the wing flowfield. A stick-beam finite element method was coupled to the aerodynamic solver to provide an aerostructural computational tool. The developed multidisciplinary design framework was utilized to perform gradient-based optimizations considering both the aerodynamic (rigid wing) and aerostructural (flexible wing) cases. In order to compare the performance recovered by the VCCTEF, two types of design variables were considered in two independent studies: wing twist and flap deflections. Rigid wing results showed a 1.3% drag reduction for the twist-optimized wing and 3.2% drag reduction for the flap(VCCTEF)-optimized wing. Flexible results showed 2.6% and 7.7% drag reductions for the twist- and VCCTEF-optimized wings, respectively. Results showed to be sensitive to Reynolds number due to laminar-turbulent transition. Nevertheless, they were in close agreement with other optimization studies done with high-fidelity tools for the CRM with morphing wing, simultaneously demonstrating potential of adaptive wing technology in reducing aircraft fuel burn and the value of the developed framework for conceptual design studies.
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