Morphing Wing Skin Latching Structure Against Buckling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing morphing wing designs face issues with skin buckling and discontinuous surfaces, leading to increased drag and reduced aerodynamic efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A morphing wing design featuring a skin with a latching structure and a rigid leading edge structure, incorporating T-shaped structures and hollows, which prevents buckling and maintains a continuous skin surface, allowing for smooth camber changes without adding thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If morphing wing designs are implemented to enable camber changes, then adaptability is improved, but skin buckling occurs leading to reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The wing skin is divided into multiple panels that can independently deform, with each panel bounded by rigid structures. This segmentation allows controlled camber changes in specific regions while preventing uncontrolled buckling of the entire skin surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Rigid leading edge structures and T-shaped reinforcement elements are strategically placed at critical locations where buckling is most likely to occur. These localized rigid elements provide structural support exactly where needed, allowing the rest of the skin to remain flexible for morphing.
2Productivity
If skin flexibility is increased to enable smooth camber transitions, then aerodynamic efficiency is improved, but skin detachment occurs leading to reduced reliability
Solution Approach 1:
T-shaped reinforcement structures and rigid leading edges are pre-installed at critical locations before morphing operations. These elements are positioned in advance to prevent detachment during subsequent camber changes, eliminating the need for reactive repairs.
3Reliability
If rigid structures are added to prevent buckling, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of making the entire wing structure rigid, only specific critical regions (leading edges and panel boundaries) are reinforced with rigid elements. This localized approach provides necessary buckling resistance while minimizing the overall addition of structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wing structure combines flexible skin materials with rigid reinforcement elements to create a composite structure. This allows the skin to maintain flexibility for morphing while the rigid elements provide buckling resistance, achieving both goals without excessive complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A wing comprises a skin shaped like an airfoil and includes a length and an interior. A latching structure is coupled to the interior of the skin and includes a T-shaped structure. Further, a first motor couples to a first rod, near a top of the skin, that spans at least a portion of the length of the skin. A second rod spans at least a portion of the length of the skin and is near a bottom of the skin. A rigid leading edge disposed in the interior of the outer skin and includes a T-shaped hollow corresponding to the T-shaped structure of the latching structure, which limits the skin from buckling when the first motor is activated.