Aircraft Flap Hinge Assembly With Narrow Fairing Footprint
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing support structures for trailing edge wing flaps on aircraft have complex mechanical linkages that increase drag and manufacturing complexity, and require a larger attachment footprint, making it difficult to achieve a narrow aerodynamic fairing and efficient load paths.
Innovation Solution
A lightweight flap hinge assembly with a small external footprint is integrated with an internal support rib and a link that passes through the flap skin, positioning the structural bulk inside the flap, allowing for a smaller attachment footprint and efficient load paths, enabling the use of a narrow aerodynamic fairing and reducing drag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If complex mechanical linkages are used in flap support structures, then the flap can be deployed between configurations, but drag increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flap support structure is divided into separate functional components: a hinge fitting with pivot axis, an actuator mounting structure with actuation point, and linkage elements. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while reducing overall complexity compared to integrated complex mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge fitting and actuator mounting structure are extracted as separate attachable components from the flap structure. This allows the complex mechanical linkages to be minimized or eliminated by using a simpler pivot-based system with direct actuation, reducing drag and manufacturing complexity while maintaining deployment capability.
2Reliability
If flap support structures are located on the undersurface of the flap, then the flap can be supported, but the attachment footprint increases making it difficult to achieve narrow aerodynamic fairing
Solution Approach 1:
The hinge fitting is designed with a pivot axis that extends in a dimension perpendicular to the flap undersurface, allowing the attachment footprint to be minimized in the plane of the flap while maintaining structural support through the third dimension. The actuator mounting structure similarly utilizes vertical positioning to reduce planar footprint.
Solution Approach 2:
The aerodynamic fairing is designed as a thin aerodynamic shell that can conform to and cover the minimized attachment footprint of the hinge fitting and actuator mounting structure. This thin-film approach allows narrow fairing cross-section while maintaining aerodynamic coverage of the support structures.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If cranked hinge fitting with multiple tension joints is used to achieve narrow fairing, then aerodynamic drag is reduced, but weight increases and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a cranked hinge fitting that requires multiple tension joints to achieve narrow footprint, the invention inverts the approach by using a straight hinge fitting with pivot axis perpendicular to the flap, allowing the attachment points to be positioned to achieve narrow fairing without the need for cranked configurations and multiple joints, thereby reducing weight and manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The hinge fitting design changes the orientation parameter of the pivot axis to be perpendicular to the flap undersurface rather than parallel, and positions the actuator mounting structure at a distance along this axis. This parameter change allows achievement of narrow attachment footprint without requiring cranked configurations, reducing the number of joints and overall weight while maintaining drag reduction benefits.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Aerodynamic drag associated with a flap hinge assembly (30) used to pivotally mount a flap (17) to the trailing edge (22) of an aircraft (10) wing (14) can be reduced when the cross-sectional area of the hinge fairing (24) which surrounds the flap hinge assembly is reduced in size. The reduction in cross-sectional area of the hinge fairing is enabled when the flap hinge assembly attachment footprint to the underside of the flap box is also reduced. The flap hinge assembly has an internal support rib (66) positioned between spars of the flap box structure internal to the skin, a hinge fitting (44) exhibiting an actuation point (50) and a hinge point (52) positioned proximate a front spar (60) of the flap box structure external to the skin, and a link (68) passing through an aperture (70) in the lower skin (46) of the flap and coupling the internal support rib to the hinge fitting.