Aircraft Wing Leading Edge Fairing Actuation Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft wing high lift devices, such as slats and droops, either create gaps that reduce efficiency at high angles of attack or require complex actuation systems, limiting their operational flexibility and efficiency in takeoff, landing, and high-speed flight.
Innovation Solution
An aircraft wing system featuring a fairing with actuation means and a guiding system using roller tracks and rollers, allowing the fairing to move between stowed, first deployed, and second deployed positions, creating or eliminating gaps between the fairing and the wing to optimize lift and angle of attack, utilizing a strain wave gear device for efficient motion conversion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a slat is deployed to create a gap between the slat and the wing, then the aircraft can fly at slower speeds or take off and land in shorter distances, but a gap is created that reduces efficiency at high angles of attack
Solution Approach 1:
The leading edge device is divided into two separate functional elements: a droop section that rotates downward to increase camber, and a slat section that can extend forward to create a slot. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each function - the droop provides camber control without gap-induced drag, while the slat provides slot flow control only when needed for low-speed operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs dynamic positioning of the slat section relative to the droop section, allowing the slat to be retracted into alignment with the wing leading edge during high-speed flight to eliminate gaps, while extending forward during low-speed operations to create the beneficial slot effect. This dynamic adjustment optimizes performance across different flight regimes.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a droop is deployed to rotate downwards without creating a gap, then the wing can operate at higher angles of attack, but the system lacks the ability to create a slot for enhanced low-speed performance
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges two previously separate high-lift devices - the droop and the slat - into a single integrated leading edge system. The droop section provides continuous camber adjustment, while the slat section can extend forward to create a slot. Together, they provide both the high angle of attack capability of a droop and the low-speed performance enhancement of a slat slot, eliminating the need to choose between the two approaches.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a complex actuation system is used to enable multiple positions, then operational flexibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The actuation system is designed to perform multiple functions through a single integrated mechanism. The same actuator that controls the droop rotation also controls the slat extension and retraction, and both movements are guided by interconnected roller tracks. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate actuation systems needed, thereby reducing overall complexity while maintaining the ability to achieve multiple deployed positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The roller track mechanism serves as an intermediary that translates a single actuator's linear motion into the complex coordinated movements of both the droop and slat sections. The roller tracks provide mechanical guidance and constraint, ensuring that the fairing moves through the correct sequence of positions while reducing the complexity of the direct actuation mechanism by offloading the guidance function to the passive roller track structure.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft wing system and method comprising: an aircraft wing including upper and lower surfaces, and a leading edge between the upper and lower surfaces; a fairing coupled to the leading edge; and actuation means configured to move the fairing relative to the aircraft wing between a stowed position, a first deployed position, and a second deployed position. The stowed position is when the fairing is in contact with the aircraft wing and serves as a continuation of the aircraft wing. The first deployed position is when the fairing is in contact with the aircraft wing and located below the stowed position. The second deployed position is when the fairing is spaced apart from the leading edge to create a gap between the fairing and the leading edge.