Augmented Aircraft Performance with the Use of Morphing Technology for a Turboprop Regional Aircraft Wing

Abstract

This article presents some application of the morphing technology for aerodynamic performance improvement of turboprop regional aircraft. It summarizes the results obtained in the framework of the Clean Sky 2 AIRGREEN2 program for the development and application of dedicated morphing devices for take-off and landing, and their uses in off design conditions. The wing of the reference aircraft configuration considers Natural Laminar Flow (NLF) characteristics. A deformable leading edge morphing device (“droop nose”) and a multi-functional segmented flap system have been considered. For the droop nose, the use of the deformable compliant structure was considered, as it allows a “clean” leading edge when not used, which is mandatory to keep natural laminar flow (NLF) properties at cruise. The use of a segmented flap makes it possible to avoid external flap track fairings, which will lead to performance improvement at cruise. An integrated tracking mechanism is used to set the flap at its take-off optimum setting, and, then, morphing is applied in order to obtain a high-performance level for landing. Lastly, some performance improvements can be obtained in climb conditions by using the last segment of the flap system to modify the load distribution on the wing in order to recover some extended laminar flow on the wing upper surface.