Aircraft trailing edge devices with forwardly positioned hinge lines
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern high-speed aircraft require lightweight trailing edge devices that can operate at high deflection angles without causing flow separations, but existing mechanisms are either complex and heavy or simple hinges that extend beyond the wing contours, leading to drag issues.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of gapped trailing edge devices with non-parallel motion paths and strategically located hinge points, allowing for greater deflection angles and reduced interference with adjacent devices, along with the use of spoilers for airflow control, which can be deployed independently to minimize gap creation and reduce drag.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex mechanisms are used to deploy trailing edge devices to aft configuration, then greater deflection angles are achieved without flow separations, but device complexity and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The trailing edge device is divided into multiple independent panels (first panel, second panel, third panel) that can move relative to each other. This segmentation allows each panel to be controlled independently, achieving complex deflection patterns without requiring a single complex mechanism. The panels can be deployed in sequence or independently to achieve the desired gap configuration while using simpler individual mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces spanwise motion in addition to traditional chordwise motion. The trailing edge device moves not only forward and backward (chordwise) but also sideways along the wing span (spanwise). This additional degree of freedom allows the device to achieve greater deflection angles and create gaps with adjacent devices through a different motion path, reducing the complexity of the actuation mechanism while maintaining reliability.
2Device complexity
If simple hinge mechanisms are used for trailing edge devices, then device complexity is reduced, but the mechanisms extend beyond wing contours causing increased drag
Solution Approach 1:
By adding spanwise motion capability to the simple hinge mechanism, the trailing edge device can retract more effectively within the wing contour. The spanwise movement allows the device to clear the projected area of the wing more completely, reducing drag-generating protrusions while maintaining mechanism simplicity. This dimensional addition transforms a two-dimensional hinge problem into a three-dimensional solution.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanism transitions from a static hinge position to a dynamic system with multiple degrees of freedom (chordwise and spanwise motion). This dynamic capability allows the trailing edge device to adapt its position during deployment and retraction, ensuring that when retracted, it sits flush with the wing contour to minimize drag, while during operation it can achieve the necessary deflection angles.
3Device complexity
If trailing edge devices move in parallel motion paths, then device simplicity is maintained, but interference with adjacent devices occurs at high deflection angles
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the motion path from purely parallel chordwise movement to a combination of chordwise and spanwise movement. The trailing edge device moves along a motion path that includes both forward/backward motion and sideways motion along the wing span. This non-parallel, three-dimensional motion path allows adjacent devices to operate at high deflection angles without interfering with each other, while the individual device mechanisms remain relatively simple.
Solution Approach 2:
By dividing the trailing edge into multiple independently controlled panels with potentially different motion paths, the system can optimize each panel's trajectory to avoid interference with adjacent devices. The first panel, second panel, and third panel can follow different motion paths tailored to their specific locations and functions, maintaining simplicity while achieving high deflection angles without interference.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~2
Figure 3~4A
AI summary
Aircraft trailing edge devices, including devices having forwardly positioned hinge lines, and associated methods are disclosed. An aircraft system in accordance with one embodiment of the invention includes a wing and a trailing edge device coupled to the wing. The trailing edge device can be movable relative to the wing between a stowed position and a deployed position, with the trailing edge device having a leading edge, a trailing edge, an upper surface, and a lower surface. The upper surface can have an intersection point with the wing when the trailing edge device is in the stowed position. The motion of the trailing edge device relative to the wing can include rotational motion about a hinge line positioned forward of the intersection point, and a gap can be positioned between the trailing edge of the wing and the leading edge of the trailing edge device when the trailing edge device is in the deployed position.