FLEXIBLE WING AIRCRAFT

Seminar Report submitted in the partial fulfillment of the award of the degree

Of Bachelor of Technology In AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT Of Mahatma Gandhi University By

AMAL JOY Reg. No. 10011226

Under the guidance of ARUNKUMAR A.R

November 2013

Department of Aeronautical Engineering

Mount Zion College of Engineering

Kadamannitta, Pathanamthitta 689 649
Phone: 0468 2217525, 2217325 Fax: 2217425 Email:mountzion01@ sify.com

MOUNT ZION COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING KADAMANITTA

AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE
Certified that this is a bonafide record of the work done by AMAL JOY Reg. No: 10011226 Of seventh semester Aeronautical Engineering for the seminar title FLEXIBLE WING AIRCRAFT in the year 2013-14.

Mr. Arunkumar A.R. (Asst. Prof.) Staff Member in charge

Mr. M. Yogesh Head of the Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To bring something into existence is truly the work of ALMIGHTY. We thank GOD ALMIGHTY for making this venture a success.

We express our wholehearted thanks to the Management of the college, Mr. Abraham Kalammannil, Chairman, for providing us an opportunity to do our studies in this esteemed institution. We thank our Principal, Dr. G Pavithran for providing the facilities for our studies and constant encouragement in all achievements.

At the outset we wish to place on record our sincere thanks to quite a few people without whose help, this venture would not have been a success.

We would like to express profound gratitude to our Head of the Department, Mr. M. Yogesh, for his encouragement and for providing all facilities for carrying out this seminar. We express our highest regard and sincere thanks to our seminar coordinator, Mr. Arunkumar A.R., who provided the necessary guidance and serious advice to carry out this seminar. We also extend our sincere thanks to all the staff members of Aeronautical Department who guided us throughout the entire course.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER TITLE PAGE NO

ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 2

INTRODUCTION DESCRIPTION OF FLEXIBLE WING TECHNOLOGY

2.1 BAGROUND OF THE CONCEPT 2.1.1 DESIGN CHALLEGE 2.1.2 FWT TECHNOLOGY APPROACH TO PROBLEMS 2.2 FLEXIBLE WING SPECTRUM 2.2.1 CONICAL WINGS 2.2.2 CYLINDRICAL WINGS 2.2.3 EFFECT OF ASPECT RATIO 2.2.4 ALL-FLEXIBLE WINGS 2.3 FEASIBILITY STUDY

1 3 3

9 14 14 15 16 17 19 22 23 24

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS
3.1 NASA RESEARCH 3.2 MISSION ADAPTIVE COMPLIANT WING 3.3 FLEXSYS 3.4 FLEXIBLE WING BASED MAV

4 5 6 7

WHAT DOES FUTURE HOLD FOR FLEXIBLE WING ADVANTAGES / DISADVANTAGES CONCLUSION BIBILOGRAPHY/ REFERENCES

ABSTRACT
Observers of nature have long noted that the wings of living creatures are flexible and generally are folded neatly out of the way not in use. Throughout the ages, men have dreamed of flying with flexible wings like those in nature, and many tried, but with success. Other types of flexible wings aerial devices were developed-hot air balloons and parachutes, which are still being used- but, apparently, no one had devised a successful, fully flexible wing that would give more aerodynamic lift than drag. Very recently however, men, and at least one woman, have succeeded in flying with truly flexible wings, pure tension structures like parachutes.

The effect of wing flexibility on aerodynamic force production has emerged as a central question in insect flight research. However, physical and computational models have yielded conflicting results regarding whether wing deformations enhance or diminish flight forces. By experimentally stiffening the wings of live bumblebees, we demonstrate that wing flexibility affects aerodynamic force production in a natural behavioral context. Bumblebee wings were artificially stiffened in vivo by applying a micro-splint to a single flexible vein joint, and the bees were subjected to load-lifting tests. Bees with stiffened wings showed an 8.6 per cent reduction in maximum vertical aerodynamic force production, which cannot be accounted for by changes in gross wing kinematics, as stroke amplitude and flapping frequency were unchanged. Our results reveal that flexible wing design and the resulting passive deformations enhance vertical force production and load-lifting capacity in bumblebees, locomotory traits with important ecological implications.

List of Tables

Table
1

Title
Summary of designs for aerodynamics and control

Page No.

effectiveness studies 2 Effects on actuator requirements

11 12

Table of Figures

Figures
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Title
Graph of Flexible wing spectrum v/s max. L/D Aspect Ratio v/s L/D ratio for conical and cylindrical wings Graph of CR v/s L/D ratio Flexibility Effects on transonic Maneuver Drag Due to Lift Flexibility Effects on Supersonic Drag Due to Lift Reduced TOGW Payoff of FW Technology Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap system Flap sections on outboard-wing trailing edge Outboard tri-flaps deflected 45 down for landing

Page No.
5 7 9 10 11 13 19 19 20 21 21 21 21

10.a Potential concept by 2015 10.b Potential concept by 2020 10.c Potential concept by 2025 10.d Potential concept by 2035