The Adaptive Aspect Ratio morphing wing: Design concept and low fidelity skin optimization

Benjamin K S Woods*, Michael I. Friswell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This work introduces a new aircraft wing span morphing concept. Known as the Adaptive Aspect Ratio wing, this concept couples a compliant skin to a mechanism based internal structure to create a morphing wing capable of significant changes in span and aspect ratio. The technologies of the concept are first introduced and discussed. The compliant skin is established to be the dominant component in the design of this concept, requiring balancing of in-plane and out-of-plane stiffnesses. An initial skin design optimization exercise is performed using analytical models, providing insight into the interplay between the various parameters of the skin design.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)209-217
Number of pages9
JournalAerospace Science and Technology
Volume42
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2015

Keywords

  • Aerospace structures
  • Compliant structures
  • Elastomeric matrix composites
  • Morphing aircraft
  • Span morphing

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