JP6440293B2 - Morphing wings - Google Patents

Description

  In the present invention, the airfoil for generating lift in the fluid is not a fixed wing that is normally used, but the whole or a partial region is divided into a plurality of blade elements in the chord direction to form a cascade. Equipped with a drive mechanism that changes the relative positional relationship of the blade elements, and with timely control, morphing blades that can freely change lift / drag, rolling moment, etc. The present invention relates to a morphing wing applied to wing deformation such as a large hard wing.

In general, an aircraft airfoil is designed to generate lift efficiently with minimal drag in a uniform flow, and it is desirable if the wing attitude angle (attack angle) with respect to the flow is within a certain range. Properties are guaranteed.
However, when the angle of attack deviates from that range, flow separation begins, the lift rapidly decreases, and at the same time the drag increases rapidly.With this aerodynamic characteristic degradation, flight control becomes extremely difficult, and abnormal postures such as drilling are entered, In some cases, it cannot be recovered.
Thus, many morphing wings that change the airfoil have been proposed particularly in the aircraft field (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2).
It gives the wings freedom of deformation (twisting, warping, changes in planar shape, etc.), and in principle meets a variety of flight conditions and mission requirements.

Also, in order to increase the lift at low speeds of the aircraft, in addition to the central main wing (the main region of lift generation), a leading edge slat and a trailing edge flap are added to increase the wing area and camber ratio. Is known.
In these types, there are various types of slats and flaps (slot presence / absence, number of flaps, etc.) and driving methods (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 3).
In addition, a method of delaying separation by supplying kinetic energy to the blade surface actively or passively has been proposed.
In particular, high pressure jet injection from the upper or lower surface of the flap at the trailing edge of the main wing, disturbance addition such as forced vibration on the wing surface, attachment of a vortex generator, and recently a method for realizing these functions using microactuators has been proposed (for example, non-patent Reference 4 etc.).

Tamayama, Trends on Morphing, Flow 28 pp. 277-284 (2009) Barbarino et al. "A Review of Morphing Aircraft", Journal of Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 22 June (2011) Development of design technology for high-lift devices using optimization technology, research on innovative aircraft technology: Result report No. 2215 Research on turbulent flow control using microactuators, separation control technology, research on innovative aircraft technology: Result report No. 1103

Because general wings have a fixed wing configuration, they can easily stall due to turbulent encounters, making it impossible to return in the low-speed area during take-off and landing, especially in small and lightweight low-wing surface-load low-speed aircraft. is there.
For example, safety is widely recognized as an urgent issue to be solved when an aircraft encounters bad weather, mountains, or turbulence during takeoff and landing, but small and light aircraft are particularly large passenger aircraft operated by airlines. Compared with, turbulent airflow resistance is significantly insufficient because the blade load is an order of magnitude smaller, and further improvement in safety is required.
Usually, when landing on a fixed-wing aircraft, even if a high lift device such as a flap is used, an approach with a path angle of 3 to 5 ° is used, so a sufficiently wide air space without an obstacle is required around the runway.

Also, depending on the wind direction and wind speed, a safe approach to the runway direction may be difficult due to crosswind restrictions, and there is no landing area other than the runway, including in case of emergency such as engine stop, There is a problem from the viewpoint of ground safety as well as passenger and aircraft safety.
In a geographical environment like Japan where the country is small and 70% is mountainous, the market for small and light aircraft is very small. Not cost effective.
On the other hand, the lack of infrastructure for small and light aircraft is an impediment to the industrial activation of small and light aircraft and the expansion of use of unmanned aircraft.
These problems cannot be sufficiently solved even by applying the above-described known morphing wings, wings having slats and flaps, wings supplying kinetic energy to the wing surface, and the like.

Various concepts for realizing morphing wings as described in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 have been proposed, but the deformation structure and weight increase due to additional actuators offset the advantage of blade deformation. For this reason, the above problems cannot be solved sufficiently, and there are very few examples that have been put to practical use.
Although the wing provided with the slat and the flap as described in Non-Patent Document 3 has an effect of increasing the wing area and an effect of increasing the camber ratio, the above problems are sufficiently compared with the wing deformation like the morphing wing described above. The advantage to solve is small.
A blade that supplies kinetic energy to the blade surface as described in Non-Patent Document 4 is effective in improving aerodynamic characteristics, but it is necessary to add a disturbance, a vortex generator, etc. However, the improvement of the aerodynamic characteristics by this alone has not sufficiently solved the above problem.

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above-described problems, and can greatly deform the entire shape of the region of the blade array with a light and simple mechanism without complicating and increasing the size of the structure. Excellent increase effect and camber ratio increase effect, especially when applied to small and light aircraft, it is difficult to stall even when encountering turbulence, landing at low speed and high angle of attack with a deep approach angle is possible, dramatically improving safety An object of the present invention is to provide a morphing wing capable of performing the above.

A morphing wing according to the present invention includes a drive mechanism in which the entire wing or a partial region is divided into a plurality of blade elements in a chord direction to form a cascade, and the relative positional relationship of the plurality of blade elements is changed. A morphing wing whose shape of the entire bladed region is changed, wherein the plurality of blade elements are arranged at one central blade element and at least one front blade element at the front and rear of the central blade element. A base member fixed to a position below the central blade element , wherein the drive mechanism is configured to change a relative position of the adjacent blade elements. An arm member fixed below the movable blade element and rotatably connected to the base member via a rotation connecting portion; and a link member that interlocks the rotation of the plurality of arm members . This solves the problem.

According to the morphing wing according to claim 1, the plurality of wing elements include one central wing element and one or more movable wing elements arranged in front and rear of the central wing element, respectively, and a driving mechanism However, by making it possible to change the relative positions of adjacent blade elements and making it possible to greatly deform the shape of the entire blade region, it is possible to achieve a blade area increase effect and a camber ratio increase effect.
Further, all the blade elements including the central blade element can be configured to be small, and it is possible to obtain a light and simple mechanism without making the structure complicated and large.
Furthermore, each of the divided blade elements has a low Reynolds number blade that cannot generate sufficient lift as a single blade element (for example, a blade in which the chord length of each blade element is closed). Although the maximum length is 50% or less with respect to the length of the entire string, it is possible to generate a higher lift than the fixed wing as an aggregate of low Reynolds number blade elements.
Further, the drive mechanism includes a base member fixed below the central blade element, an arm member fixed below the movable blade element and rotatably connected to the base member via a rotation connecting portion, and a plurality of arm members By providing a link member that interlocks the rotation of the arm member, the movement of the chord direction of a plurality of blade elements and the change in the angle of attack can be interlocked, so the entire blade can be deformed with one actuator. It becomes possible to control, and it becomes possible to make a light and simple mechanism without complicating and increasing the size of the structure.

According to the configuration of the present invention, the plurality of blade elements are configured such that slots are formed between adjacent blade elements. Can be supplied to the upper surface of the blade to delay the separation, and aerodynamic characteristics can be improved without adding other disturbances or adding a vortex generator.
According to the configuration of the third aspect of the present invention, since the drive mechanism is configured to be able to change the angle of attack of each of the plurality of blade elements, the shape of the entire blade can be further greatly changed, and the camber ratio The increase effect can be increased .

The modification explanatory view of the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention. Explanatory drawing of the flow of the 60 degree form and 30 degree form of the morphing wing | blade which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The perspective explanatory drawing of the 60 degrees form of the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention. The characteristic graph of the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing of the morphing wing | blade which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The reference photograph of the cruise form of the cut model of the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention. The reference photograph of the 60 degree form of the cut model of the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention. The reference photograph at the time of landing of the real machine model which has the morphing wings concerning one embodiment of the present invention.

The morphing wing of the present invention includes a drive mechanism in which the entire wing or a partial region is divided into a plurality of blade elements in the chord direction to form a cascade, and the relative positional relationship of the plurality of blade elements is changed. A morphing wing in which the shape of the entire arrayed region is changed, and a plurality of wing elements are arranged with one central wing element and at least one movable wing element in front and behind the central wing element. The drive mechanism is configured to be able to change the relative position of adjacent blade elements, and the drive mechanism is fixed below the central blade element and fixed below the movable blade element. The arm member is rotatably connected to the base member via the rotation connecting portion, and the link member that interlocks the rotation of the plurality of arm members is provided, and the structure is lightweight without complicating and increasing the size. With a simple mechanism, the entire wing can be greatly deformed. As long as it has excellent Yanba rose effect, specific embodiments thereof may be any one.

As an example of the present invention, the blade row is composed of five blade elements in which the movable blade elements 112a and 112b are arranged on the front side of the central blade element 111 and the movable blade elements 112c and 112d are arranged on the rear side, and the camber ratio is 4% to 24 FIG. 1 shows a morphing wing in which the movable wing element 112d at the rearmost part can be deformed from 0 ° to 60 °.
In this example, the cruise mode is equivalent to an integral fixed wing, and a slot S is formed between adjacent wing elements by deformation.
At the time of deformation, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the kinetic energy of the lower surface of the blade is supplied to the upper surface of the blade to hold the turbulent boundary layer, and the separation delay effect is obtained. Reduction of the lift force can be suppressed.
On the other hand, due to the frictional resistance generated when the flow on the lower surface of the blade flows into and passes through the four rows of slots S, the drag is greater than in the case of the fixed blade.
However, the changes in lift and drag with respect to the angle of attack are smooth, there is no sudden decrease in lift and drag immediately after peeling, and smooth lift-drag ratio control is possible by adjusting the slot opening / closing degree according to the flow.

These characteristics are shown in the graph of FIG.
In the figure, CL indicates lift, CD indicates drag, 1 and 4 are graphs of fixed wings (substantially the same as the cruise mode of the present invention), 2 and 5 are graphs of fixed wings with a camber ratio of 24%, 3 and 6 is a graph in which the horizontal axis represents the angle of attack when the morphing wing of an example of the present invention is transformed into a 60 ° form.
As can be seen from this graph, in the morphing blade of the present invention, by increasing the blade row opening degree, the blade area increasing effect and camber ratio increasing effect are achieved, and the fixed blade (in the figure) A lift higher than that of CL (Original) 1) can be generated, and a lift higher than that of a fixed blade (CL (24% Chamber Single) 2) having a camber ratio of 24% can be generated in a range of angles of attack of 1 ° to 45 °.
Further, when the morphing blade of the example of the present invention is deformed from 14 ° of the fixed blade (CL (Original) 1 in the figure) to 60 ° form (CL (Morphing 60 deg) 3 in the drawing) It has shifted to 30 °, and in the case of an aircraft, stall can be delayed and sticky.

Furthermore, when the morphing wing of an example of the present invention is deformed to a 60 ° form (CL (Morphing 60 deg) 3 in the figure), the angle of attack becomes large (> 30 degrees), and the lift does not decrease rapidly even when peeling begins. Decrease very gently.
Therefore, since the pitching moment does not change suddenly with separation and the drag (CD (Morphing 60 deg) 6 in the figure) does not increase rapidly and does not increase slowly, when applied to an aircraft, it remains high at a pitch angle of about 0 °. Low speed high descent landing at angle of attack (about 45 °) can be achieved.
For example, in actual flight using a prototype, a deep approach angle (25 degrees) is realized at a high angle of attack (20 degrees), which is impossible with a fixed wing, as shown in the reference photograph shown in FIG.

The mechanism of the morphing wing 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
The morphing blade 100 is divided into a plurality of blade elements in the chord direction by dividing the entire blade into a plurality of blade elements. The movable blade elements 112a and 112b are disposed on the front side of the central blade element 111, and the movable blade elements 112c are disposed on the rear side. A drive mechanism 120 is provided which includes five blade elements with 112d disposed therein and changes the relative positional relationship and posture of each movable blade element 112a to 112d with respect to the central blade element 111.
The drive mechanism 120 includes a base member 121 fixed to the central blade element 111, arm members 122a to 122d fixed to the movable blade elements 112a to 112d and rotatably connected to the base member 121, and Link members 123a to 123d for interlocking the rotation of the arm members 122a to 122d are provided.

The link member 123s is provided so as to be rotatable around the rotation center C with respect to the base member 121. The link members 123a to 123d rotate at one end to the arm members 122a to 122d and the other end to the link member 123s, respectively. It is linked movably.
When the link member 123s is rotated with respect to the base member 121 by one actuator (not shown), the arm members 122a to 122d are connected to the arm members 122a to 123d via the link members 123a to 123d as shown in the reference photograph of FIG. Are simultaneously rotated with respect to the base member 121, the relative positional relationship and posture of each movable blade 112a-d with respect to the central blade 111 are changed, and the morphing blade 100 is deformed.

In addition, since all members interlock | cooperate if at least any one rotation connection part (it shows with the black dot of FIG. 5) of each link member 123a-d and s and each arm member 122a-d rotates, an actuator is Any member may be driven at any position.
In consideration of driving force, a plurality of actuators may be provided.
Furthermore, by changing the length of each link member 123a-d, s, the length of each arm member 122a-d, and the position of the rotation connecting portion, the position and posture of each movable blade 112a-d can be changed arbitrarily. The entire wing can be deformed into an arbitrary shape.
In the above embodiment, the number of movable blade elements 112 is four. However, any number of movable blade elements may be used, and some movable blade elements are driven independently without being connected to the link member, and the position and position of the movable blade elements are individually determined. The angle of attack may be controllable.
Further, the movable blade element may be driven by a motion mechanism other than the base member, the arm member, and the link member, for example, a motion mechanism using a cam and a cam follower, a gear, a chain, or the like, or by appropriately combining them.

The drive mechanism 120 may be provided at any position in the width direction of the blade, and a plurality of drive mechanisms 120 may be provided in the width direction.
For example, in the case of an aircraft, it is preferable to provide drive mechanisms 120 on both sides of the morphing wing on the fuselage side and wing tip side.
Further, the central blade element and the movable blade element may have different shapes in the width direction, and when a drive mechanism is provided at both ends, the operation at the time of deformation may be defined to be different at both ends.
Furthermore, in order to prevent the slot from being formed when the morphing wing is deformed, the rear end of the upper surface side of the central wing element and the movable wing element is extended rearward, or the upper surface of the morphing wing is made of an elastically deformable membrane. You may comprise so that it may cover.

The central blade element has a hollow structure, or the movable blade elements 112a to 112d have a hollow structure, as shown in the reference photos shown in FIGS. It is also possible to reduce the weight while ensuring rigidity.
Further, each member such as a base member, an arm member, and a link member can also be reduced in weight while ensuring strength and rigidity by adopting a hollow structure, a honeycomb structure, an uneven structure, or the like.
Furthermore, passive deformation of the morphing wing according to the external force may be allowed by configuring part or all of the arm member, the link member, etc. with a material that can be elastically deformed.

As described above, according to the morphing wing of the present invention, the entire wing can be greatly deformed with a light and simple mechanism without complicating and increasing the size of the structure, and the wing area increasing effect and camber ratio increasing effect Can be improved.
The morphing wing of the present invention is particularly effective in improving turbulence resistance performance for aircraft and realizing high angle-of-attack and high descent landing (Semi-VTOL function), thereby improving aviation safety by reducing the probability of aircraft loss There are significant effects such as expanding the use of small aircraft and expanding the use of unmanned aircraft.
Moreover, it can be applied as a blade for various purposes such as improving the power generation efficiency of a vertical axis wind turbine and improving the propulsion efficiency by applying it to a ship-mounted hard blade sail.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Morphing blade 111 ... Central blade element 112 ... Movable blade element 120 ... Drive mechanism 121 ... Base member 122 ... Arm member 123 ... Link member C ... Center of rotation S ... Slot

Claims (3)

The entire blade or part of the blade is divided into a plurality of blade elements in the chord direction to form a blade row, and includes a drive mechanism that changes the relative positional relationship of the plurality of blade blades, and the blade row region A morphing wing whose overall shape is changed,
The plurality of blade elements include one central blade element and one or more movable blade elements arranged in front and rear of the central blade element,
The drive mechanism is configured to be able to change the relative position of the adjacent blade elements ;
A base member fixed below the central blade element; an arm member fixed below the movable blade element and rotatably connected to the base member via a rotation connecting portion; A morphing wing comprising a link member that interlocks the rotation of the plurality of arm members .   The morphing wing according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of blade elements are configured such that a slot is formed between adjacent blade elements.   The morphing wing according to claim 1, wherein the drive mechanism is configured to be able to change angles of attack of the plurality of blade elements.