Computational and experimental validation of the active morphing wing

An advanced computational and experimental analysis has been performed upon a conventional aircraft wing with two outboard morphing partitions that are variable in twist and dihedral angles. Results are generated with the intention of drawing meaningful comparisons with initial trends in aerodynamic and structural efficiency that have been observed in previous optimization studies. Computational results are obtained with the DLR, German Aerospace Center TAU computational fluid dynamics code, both for an aircraft wing in high-speed flight and for a wing modeled at low speed with wind-tunnel wall constraints. An experimental testing has been performed at the University of Bristol 7 × 5 ft low-speed wind tunnel. An outer-twist variation of ±3 deg and dihedral angles from planar up to 90 deg C-wing geometries are tested for a range of incidence angles. Results demonstrate varying levels of agreement between each form of analysis method, and offer insight into the aerodynamic and structural tradeoff required to select an optimal configuration. Copyright © 2013 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.