Wing Tip Device Actuation for Span Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing aircraft designs face challenges in safely and reliably reducing wing span for ground operations without compromising the wing's design or increasing weight, particularly for larger aircraft that exceed airport clearance limits.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a carriage guide and carriage system that allows the wing tip device to move along a pivot, enabling both rotational and translational movement, with an actuator following a curved locus to control the wing tip device's position and reduce reaction forces, ensuring stability and minimizing the need for locking or braking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a wing tip device is made movable to reduce span for ground operations, then the aircraft can comply with airport clearance limits, but the structural integrity and reliability of the wing may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The wing tip device is segmented from the main wing structure, allowing it to be independently movable while the wing remains intact. The carriage guide system provides a dedicated mounting structure that separates the wing tip device's movement function from the wing's structural function, maintaining wing integrity while enabling span reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
A carriage guide system acts as an intermediary between the wing and the movable wing tip device. This intermediate structure absorbs and manages the forces generated during wing tip device movement, preventing direct stress transmission to the wing structure and maintaining both reliability and adaptability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a movable wing tip device is implemented, then span reduction is enabled, but the device complexity and weight of the aircraft increase
Solution Approach 1:
The wing tip device transitions from a static to a dynamic configuration, mounted on a carriage that can move along a guide track. This dynamic mounting system enables span adjustment through controlled movement rather than requiring complex adjustable mechanisms within the wing tip device itself, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining configurability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the wing tip device is moved to reduce span, then ground operations compliance is improved, but the movement mechanism may generate harmful forces affecting the wing
Solution Approach 1:
The carriage guide system serves as an intermediary that intercepts and manages reaction forces generated during wing tip device movement. By providing a dedicated guide structure, the system channels forces through the carriage assembly rather than allowing them to act directly on the wing, reducing harmful effects while enabling ground configuration capability.
Data Source
AI summary
An aircraft comprises a wing, a wing tip device at the tip of the wing and an actuator. The actuator is arranged to effect movement of the wing tip device between a flight configuration for use during flight and a ground configuration in which the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that the span of the aircraft is reduced. The aircraft comprises a carriage guide, such as a track assembly, fixed relative to the wing, and a carriage arranged to move along the track assembly as the wing tip device moves between the flight and ground configurations. The carriage carries the wing tip device on a pivot, such that the wing tip device is rotatable relative to the carriage, about the pivot, as the carriage moves along the track assembly. The movement of the wing tip device between the flight and the ground configurations, may thereby comprise both a rotational component of movement of the wing tip device about the pivot, and a translational component of movement, of the pivot, along the track assembly.