Winglets have a significant impact on the aerodynamic performance of aircraft. When aircraft are in different flight phases such as takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, and landing, traditional fixed winglets often cannot provide optimal performance gain...
Such as flying creatures, morphing aircraft can expand their aerodynamic flight envelopes by changing aerodynamic shapes, significantly improving the scope of application and flight efficiency. A novel 3D Zero Poisson’s Ratio (ZPR) honeycomb st...
The development of morphing wings is in the pursuit of lighter weight, higher stiffness and strength, and better flexible morphing ability. A structure that can be used as both the bearing structure and the morphing mechanism is the optimal choice fo...
A multi-dimensional morphing wing skeleton mechanism is proposed with double-sided triangular pyramid units, which can realize continuous variable span-wise bend, span-wise twist, and sweep. A lockable morphing unit is designed, and its mechanism/str...
In this work, a collaborative experimental study has been conducted to assess the effect an imposed internal pressure has on the controlling the hydrodynamic performance of a compliant composite hydrofoil. It was expected that the internal pressure t...
During the water entry process of a trans-domain morphing aircraft, significant impact forces are generated when the aircraft hits the water surface, which will potentially cause the deformation of the cabin structure and might damage the structure o...
The implementation of morphing wing mechanisms shows significant potential for improving aircraft performance, as highlighted in the recent literature. The Clean Sky 2 AirGreen 2 European project team is currently performing ground and wind tunnel te...
A novel mechanism for seamless morphing trailing edge flaps is presented in this paper. This bio-inspired morphing concept is derived from an elephant’s trunk and is called the Elephant Trunk Mechanism (ETM). The structural flexibility of an el...
This work proposes a systematic topology optimization approach for simultaneously designing the morphing functionality and actuation in three-dimensional wing structures. The actuation was modeled by a linear-strain-based expansion in the actuation m...
Conventional span-morphing wings are often constrained by structural complexity, heavy weight, and discontinuous aerodynamic surface. Although flexible honeycomb and lattice structures offer lightweight solutions, they usually require external loads...
Passive morphing enables insect wings to adapt their shape under aerodynamic and inertial loads without direct actuation, contributing to efficient, stable, and agile flight. These natural mechanisms have attracted growing interest as a source of ins...
This review explores recent advancements in morphing structures for Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), focusing on mechanical designs and control strategies of quadrotors that enable real-time geometric reconfiguration. Morphing mechanisms, ranging from...
The technique of morphing in aerospace engineering is a relatively new discipline targeting the improvement of aircraft performance, even through dramatic changes to some critical geometrical and mechanical features, to adapt aircrafts’ configu...
The concept of smart morphing blades, which can control themselves to reduce or eliminate the need for active control systems, is a highly attractive solution in blade technology. In this paper, an innovative passive control system based on Shape Mem...
The influence of trailing edge deformation on the aerodynamic characteristics of camber morphing wings is an important topic in the aviation field. In this paper, a new memory alloy actuator is proposed to realize trailing edge deformation, and compu...
High aspect ratio aircraft have a significantly reduced induced drag, but have only limited installation space for control surfaces near the wingtip. This paper describes a multidisciplinary design methodology for a morphing aileron that is based on...
Shape-variable structures can change their geometry in a targeted way and thus adapt their outer shape to different operating conditions. The potential applications in aviation are manifold and far-reaching. The substitution of conventional flaps in...
This paper proposes a novel deployable panel structure integrated with a bistable composite structure and thick panel based on the thick origami technique. To overcome the interference effects between thick panels, the axis shift method is used in th...
Evaluating the impact of morphing devices in terms of actuation energy is a promising approach to quantify, from the earliest stages of wing design, the convenience of active camber morphing compared to the use of conventional control surfaces. A mor...
Morphing aerospace structures have attracted increasing attention as an efficient solution for improving aerodynamic efficiency by enabling continuous variation of wing geometry under different flight conditions. Among the available actuation technol...
This work introduces a novel variable camber mechanism that combines the high-load capacity, structural stability, and mechanical efficiency of rigid-body mechanisms with the adaptability, lightweight design, and continuous and smooth motion of compl...
Morphing wings are a typical application of shape-adaptive structures in aviation, which play an important role in improving the comprehensive performance of an aircraft. However, traditional morphing wings based on purely mechanical, rigid-flexible...
A review of morphing actuation systems in relation to rotary-wing aerial platforms is presented. The research highlights an inadequate maturation of rotary actuation systems, characterised by a scarcity of (1) comprehensive full-scale experimental re...
Multistable structures that possess more than one elastically stable equilibrium state are highly attractive for advanced shape-changing (morphing) applications due to the nominal control effort required to maintain the structure in any of its specif...
Morphing trailing edge wing as an important morphing wing technology has gained wide attention because of its advantages, such as gust mitigation, improved aerodynamic efficiency, and reduced radar reflective area. However, the key problems such as l...
With the development of morphing aircraft, understanding the fluid–structure interaction (FSI) mechanisms of multibody systems composed of rigid and flexible components has become increasingly important. The coupled motion and deformation of su...
Birds have unique flight characteristics unrivaled by even the most advanced drones due in part to their lightweight morphable wings and tail. Advancements in 3D-printing, servomotors, and composite materials are enabling more innovative airplane des...
Nature has many striking examples of adaptive structures: the emulation of birds’ flight is the true challenge of a morphing wing. The integration of increasingly innovative technologies, such as reliable kinematic mechanisms, embedded servo-ac...
The design of morphing structures must combine conflicting structural requirements and multiple load conditions that are related to the aerodynamic shapes aimed at optimizing aircraft performance. This article proposes a multilevel approach for the d...
The idea of morphing is drawing extensive attention in aerospace technologies. Several different approaches like span, camber, twist, and sweep are finding applications. In this work, the concept of a trailing edge control surface which is capable o...
Corrugated panels are promising in the field of morphing structures due to their high anisotropy. A low stiffness in the morphing direction allows for a reduced actuation force, which provides the benefit of reducing the system weight. However, a low...
In the design and analysis of morphing wings, several sciences need to be integrated. This article tries to answer the question, “What is the most appropriate actuation mechanism to morph the wing profile?” by introducing the synthesis, a...
This paper proposes a new topology optimization formulation for obtaining shape memory alloy actuators which are designed with prescribed two-way transforming shapes. The actuation behaviors of shape memory alloy structures are governed by austenite-...
The main objective of this paper is to introduce complex structures with self-bending/morphing/rolling features fabricated by 4D printing technology, and replicate their thermo-mechanical behaviors using a simple computational tool. Fused deposition...
This paper tackles the challenge of achieving robust and precise control for a novel quadrotor featuring continuously variable arm lengths (15 cm to 19 cm), enabling enhanced adaptability in complex environments. Unlike conventional fixed-geometry or...
A design for a new high lift system that features a morphing wing leading edge “droop nose” has the potential to generate high lift coefficients whilst mitigating airframe noise emissions. This seamless, continuous, and stepless flexible...
A smart structure to actuate a morphing trailing edge based on the super critical airfoil NASA sc-0714(2) was designed and verified in a transonic wind tunnel. The pressure distribution over the wing was measured to evaluate the structure ability and...
Since its conception, the application of 3D printing in the structuring of food materials has been focused on the processing of novel material formulations and customized textures for innovative food applications, such as personalized nutrition and f...
Fluid structure interaction (FSI) is a complex phenomenon that in several applications cannot be neglected. Given its complexity and multi-disciplinarity the solution of FSI problems is difficult and time consuming, requiring not only the solution of...
This work presents a low-fidelity optimization method for a compliant morphing wing trailing-edge structure, developed to achieve multiple optimized aerodynamic shapes under combined aerodynamic and control loads using a single actuation pathway. Typ...
This paper provides a detailed review of the evolution and development of corrugated wings, a biomimetic concept that is very effective under low Reynolds number flights. We will highlight, through reviewing experimental and numerical studies, the em...
Detrimental environmental impacts due to the increasing demands of the aviation industry have gained tremendous global attention. With a potential fuel saving, along with high aerodynamic performance and maneuverability during different phases of a f...
Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, was introduced to design complicated structures/geometries that overcome the manufacturability limitations of traditional manufacturing processes. However, like any other manufacturing technique...
Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are materials capable of changing their structural configuration from a fixed shape to a temporary shape, and vice versa when subjected to a thermal stimulus. The present work has investigated the 3D printing process of a...
One of the tasks of the FutureWings project, funded by the European Commission within the 7th framework, was to numerically validate the mechanical behavior of a wing whose deflections had to be controlled via a suitable distribution of piezoelectric...
As a key enabler for future aviation technology, the use of servo electromechanical actuation offers new opportunities to transition innovative structural concepts, such as biomimicry morphing structures, from basic research to new commercial aircraf...
Recent advances in smart structures and multifunctional materials have facilitated many novel aerospace technologies such as morphing aircraft. A morphing aircraft, bio-inspired by natural fliers, has gained a lot of interest as a potential technolog...
Birds are capable of morphing their wings across different flight modes and speeds to improve their aerodynamic performance. In light of this, the study aims to investigate a more optimized solution compared to conventional structural wing designs. T...
Conventional or fixed wings require a certain thickness of skin material selection that guarantees structurally reliable strength under expected aerodynamic loadings. However, skin structures of morphing wings need to be flexible as well as stiff eno...
In this work, we propose a method for the shape optimization of frame structures using a mixed analytical–numerical approach. The goal is to achieve a uniform-strength frame structure, ensuring optimal material utilization and weight minimizati...
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