Browsing by Author "Ukolov, Egor"
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- Experimental and Numerical Study of a Novel Airfoil Morphing Concept for UAV WingsPublication . Ukolov, Egor; Gamboa, Pedro VieiraThe conventional aircraft design process results in a compromise solution for its wings geometry that meets all design requirements and ensures satisfactory performance throughout its operational envelope. Consequently, the aircraft may operate under suboptimal performance conditions in various flight conditions. This dissertation presents a novel concept for executing wing morphing in its airfoil degree-of-freedom, which has the potential applications in small-to-medium size unmanned aerial vehicles, aimed at enhancing their flight performance across a broader range of flight conditions. A surrogate model is developed to evaluate the most significant design variables of the concept in relation to aerodynamic performance metrics – maximum lift coefficient, maximum lift-to-drag ratio, and the corresponding pitching moment coefficient. A prototype of the concept is implemented to demonstrate proof-of-concept and compare the experimental results of morphing actuation with those obtained numerically from a computational model. Case studies are conducted using the airfoils “NACA 2412”, “NACA 2415”, and “NACA 4418” to further investigate the potential benefits of morphing, alongside a comparison of the concept’s performance with conventional hinged surfaces. The results indicate that the concept is capable of enhancing lift-to-drag ratio across a considerable range of lift coefficients and reducing, in absolute value, the pitching moment coefficient. Furthermore, the concept allows for achieving a 12% higher maximum lift coefficient and an 88% higher maximum lift-to-drag ratio than that of a conventional hinged surface. The study concludes that the potential practical implementation of the concept can reduce take-off and landing distances, decrease the installed power requirements, extend range and endurance, and enable an aircraft to operate efficiently under varying weight conditions.