Model to Evaluate the Aerodynamic Energy Requirements of Active Materials in Morphing Wings

A computational model is presented which predicts the force, stroke, and energy needed to overcome aerodynamic loads encountered by morphing wings during aircraft maneuvers. This low-cost model generates wing section shapes needed to follow a desired flight path, computes the resulting aerodynamic forces using a unique combination of conformal mapping and the vortex panel method, computes the longitudinal motion of the simulated aircraft, and closes the loop with a zero-error control law. The aerodynamic force prediction method has been verified against two more expensive codes. This overall model will be used to predict the performance of morphing wings and the requirements for the active material actuators in the wings.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

2001

Author dc:creator

• Pettit, Gregory William

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Robertshaw, Harry H.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Kapania, Rakesh K.
• Inman, Daniel J.

• Smart Materials
• Energy
• Wings
• Control
• Morphing

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-12212001-161117

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/36364