Experimental wind tunnel testing of a new multidisciplinary morphing wing model

摘要

The paper presents the development of an experimental morphing wing model and its performance evaluation by using some wind tunnel tests. The model was designed, fabricated and tested during a multidisciplinary collaborative research project involving industrial partners, research entities and academia from Canada and Italy. It was based on the dimensions of a full scale wing tip structure, being equipped with a morphable flexible upper surface made from composite materials and deformed by using four miniature electrical actuators, with an array of 32 Kulite pressure sensors to monitor the air flow behavior over the upper surface, and with an aileron also electrical actuated. In the paper are successively exposed: 1) a short project presentation; 2) the skin shape optimization; 3) the instrumentation of the morphing wing model and the mechanisms used to control it; 4) the wind tunnel aerodynamic results analysis by using an infrared camera.