Aerodynamic performance comparison of a conventional UAV wing and a FishBAC morphing wing

Morphing wings were once in the common in early aviation however due to a lack of strong and lightweight materials they were abandoned in favour of conventional wings. Due to the recent advances in smart technologies, morphing wings has become of interest in aviation. This paper proposes the use of internal mechanisms to promote morphing in a wing to increase aerodynamic performance as opposed to the smart technologies. To determine the aerodynamic superiority of the morphing wing it was compared to a conventional wing of the same geometry. The remote-control (RC) aircraft Precedent T240 was used as the basis of the wing design for the morphing wing. The FishBAC (Fish Bone Active Camber) morphing concept is used in this research, to design and prototype a morphing wing for the Precedent T240 RC model aircraft. The simplicity and cost effectiveness of the internal mechanisms will allow for a wider audience to adopt the morphing wing design. The conventional wing will be compared to a morphing wing of the same geometry through simulations and wind tunnel testing. The morphing wing required a compliant morphing skin suitable to facilitate the extension of the top surface and contraction of the lower surface of the wing. A FMC (Flexible Matrix Composite) skin was developed for facilitation of extension the top surface of the wing whilst the contraction of the bottom surface was bypassed through the usage of a thin aluminium plate. The morphing wing and the conventional wing performance were simulated using the TORNADO program and the XFOIL adapted XFLR5 and validated experimentally through wind tunnel testing. The wind tunnel experiments showed that the morphing wing had superior aerodynamic performance in comparison to the conventional wing, with the exception of stall speed due to the increased weight of the morphing wing. The theoretical results accurately predicted the performance of the morphing wing for low morphing deflections and angles of attack. The results have shown that the design of the morphing wing is acceptable as a simple and an affordable option. Due to the higher performance (in most areas) while considering the weight penalty due to the more increased complexity of a morphing wing system as opposed to a conventional wing system. Hence a FishBAC morphing wing is aerodynamically superior to its conventional counterpart.