Vortex structure on twist-morphing micro air vehicle wings

Abstract

Vortex formation has numerous influences on the aerodynamic characteristics of fixed-wing micro air vehicle wings. Despite the mature understanding of vortices on fixed-wing and flapping micro air vehicle wings, the behavior of vortices over the morphing micro air vehicle wing has not been fully explored. Thus, the current work is conducted to investigate the influence of vortex structure over a series of twist-morphing micro air vehicle wings. Twist morphing micro air vehicle and baseline wings are simulated through fluid–structure interaction analysis. The validation results for each wing exhibited good correlation in the overall lift coefficient distribution trend. The vortex formation results show that vortex formations are significantly altered throughout angle of attack changes. For a given angle of attack cases below the stall angle, each morphing wing exhibited higher intensities of tip vortex structure formations and leading edge vortex–tip vortex interactions compared to the baseline wings. Stronger leading edge vortex–tip vortex interactions improved the low-pressure region over the morphing wing surface and further induce better lift performance. In fact, the morphing wing with higher morphing force induces better lift performance.