Preliminary Assessment of Torsional Static Aeroelastic Effects in Novel Morphing Wing Concepts

An efficient morph wing evaluation is proposed to integrate morphing concepts and static aeroelastic effects, enabling fuel reduction, enhancing sustainability and reducing operational costs in air transportation while assessing specific advantages compared to conventional configurations and addressing new eco-friendly wing designs. Morphing and conventional configurations are compared, accounting for structural flexibility when estimating drag reduction. Three morphing spanwise functions have been analyzed: M1 representing a rib twist concept, M2 corresponding to trailing-edge morphing and M3 combining leading- and trailing-edge morphing. A low-fidelity approach combining 2D/3D aerodynamics and simple beamwise FE torsional structure is provided for aeroelastic performance estimation. The benefits in terms of drag reduction are quantified and discussed, and a parametric procedure is presented to investigate the influence of selected design parameters. The results show that a conventional aileron is less effective than an equivalent morphing configuration. For an aspect ratio of 20, torsional flexibility reduces the expected benefit, while for an aspect ratio of 10, it is less relevant. Flexibility also contributes to a reduction in yawing moment, potentially improving handling qualities under the flight conditions considered. The evaluation of the aerodynamic advantages of selected morphed wing configurations, compared to a conventional aileron, confirms their potential when integrated into new wing designs that account for torsional flexibility. An effective morphing wing design requires a careful balance between lift redistribution, aileron/flap dimensions, deflection angle, and torsional elasticity, with the goal of maximizing drag reduction in the elastic case. Variations in other aerodynamic coefficients provide useful insights for targeted investigations related to specific flight conditions and handling qualities.