Slat-Inspired Reversible Wing for Stopped-Rotor Vehicles
Reversible morphing wings, which can exchange the leading and trailing edges, expand architectural possibilities for aerial robotics (e.g., stopped-rotor configurations). However, few designs are scaled for uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) applications or effectively address the coupled aerodynamic and structural challenges of morphing. As such, we present a novel reversible wing design that uses rigid parallelogram slats mounted on a flexible substrate, creating a compliant yet aerodynamically robust structure. One-way fluid-structure interaction simulations validate the wing's structural performance under airflow. Compared to other reversed-flow wings, the proposed configuration doubles reverse-flow performance relative to a Clark-Y wing and improves upon the 0° angle of attack performance compared to other reversible morphing wings.
Authors
- Max Hughes
- Kristan Hilby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1562-3759)
- Ian W. Hunter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2218-9516)
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-05-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1109/icuas65942.2025.11007875
- Primary Topic
- Fluid dynamics and aerodynamics studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Office of Graduate Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology