Morphing Wing Pantograph Mechanism for Flight Performance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional technologies have not sufficiently improved flight performance of aircraft with morphing wings.
Innovation Solution
A morphing wing system incorporating a pantograph mechanism, flight feathers, connection members, and rotating mechanisms that allow the wing to extend, contract, sweep, twist, and fold, increasing the angle between adjacent feathers to enhance flight performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the wing area is significantly changed to improve flight performance, then flight performance is improved, but boundary layer separation occurs at large angles of attack
Solution Approach 1:
The wing surface is segmented into multiple independent flight feathers that can individually adjust their angles. This segmentation allows the wing to maintain effective lift-generating surface area at large angles of attack by adjusting feather angles, preventing complete boundary layer separation while still achieving the needed wing area change for improved flight performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The flight feathers are made dynamically adjustable through rotation mechanisms that allow each feather to change its angle relative to the wing body. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the wing to adapt to different flight conditions, maintaining optimal performance across varying angles of attack while avoiding harmful boundary layer separation.
2Productivity
If a morphing mechanism is added to change wing shape and area, then flight performance is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex morphing function is segmented into multiple simpler rotation mechanisms, each responsible for adjusting individual flight feathers. This segmentation of the morphing mechanism makes the overall system more manageable and less complex than a single complex morphing system, while still achieving significant wing shape and area changes for improved flight performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotation mechanisms serve multiple functions: they adjust the angle of each flight feather for lift optimization, enable wing area change through collective feather adjustment, and prevent boundary layer separation. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate mechanisms, thereby managing device complexity while achieving improved flight performance.
3Reliability
If the angle between flight feathers is increased to prevent boundary layer separation, then stable flight at large angles of attack is maintained, but wing area decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The flight feathers dynamically adjust their angles based on flight conditions. At large angles of attack, feathers increase their angles to prevent boundary layer separation and maintain stable flight. During normal flight conditions, feathers return to smaller angles to maximize effective wing area. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by allowing the wing to have both large area and stable flight characteristics at different times.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the angular parameter of flight feathers to optimize performance. By varying the feather angles, the system can maintain stable flight at large angles of attack when needed while preserving maximum wing area during normal operation, thus resolving the contradiction between stability and area.
Data Source
AI summary
A morphing wing includes a pantograph mechanism capable of being extended and contracted in a predetermined direction, a plurality of flight feathers attached to the pantograph mechanism, connection members configured to connect flight feathers adjacent to each other among the plurality of flight feathers, a first rotating mechanism configured to rotate the pantograph mechanism around one axis of a plane that intersects the direction, and a second rotating mechanism configured to rotate the pantograph mechanism around another axis of the plane. Each of the plurality of flight feathers is configured so that an angle formed by adjacent flight feathers connected via the connection members increases as the pantograph mechanism extends.