Design of Morph Wings with Tunable Properties for Ultralight Aircraft

This project aimed to develop, analyze, and manufacture a small-scale morphing airplane wing. Traditional fixed-wing configurations encounter limitations when trying to adapt to the diverse and dynamic demands of modern flight scenarios. A morphing wing provides improved performance compared to conventional fixed-wing designs, as it has the ability to adapt to various flight conditions, thereby optimizing aerodynamic performance throughout the entire flight envelope. This project investigated simple methods to design and construct a reliable morphing wing to improve aerodynamic properties during takeoff, cruise, and landing. The design used a series of motors and controllers to achieve chordwise bending of an airfoil with a flexible cross section. The morphing wing design was numerically studied using CAD software such as XFLR5, Ansys Fluent, as well as CAE software like Ansys. Additionally, it was experimentally tested in a wind tunnel and was manufactured using a Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer. This project also investigates the effects of manufacturing parameters on the mechanical performance of the wing. This paper also explored the use of smart materials as a potential actuator to achieve airfoil morphing. Heat reactive shape memory polymers were considered and tested as a motorless actuation method with the aim of further reducing the weight of the wing. The models and experiments demonstrate that the in-flight adaptability of morphing wings contributes not only to improved aerodynamic performance, but also to enhanced maneuverability and energy efficiency of the aircraft.