Morphing Unmanned Aerial

Vehicles
An insight into the merits, types and the dynamics related
2 Scope

Image Source : Wikipedia

 Introduction
 Morphing Wing Design
 Morphing UAV Aerodynamic Model
 References

Image Source : Indian Air Force

3 Introduction – why, types
 A Morphing Aircraft can be defined as an aircraft that
changes configuration in-flight to maximize its performance at
significantly different flight conditions.
 Since the propulsive power of MAVs are very limited, they
stand to benefit from being able to dramatically change their
wing geometry in order to accommodate wind gusts and
other disturbances.

Fig 1 : Types of morphing possible [8]

4 Introduction (…contd)

Fig 2: University of Florida

24 inch MAV [1] Fig 4: Simulated and actual roll
rate [1]

Fig 6: MFX-1 concept UAV by Next Gen

Aeronautics under a DARPA project entitled
N-MAS [2]

Fig 3: Rear View of the 24

inch MAV with Morphed
wing [1] Fig 5: Simulated and actual yaw
rate [1]
5 Introduction (history)

Fig 7 : Timeline of fixed wing aircrafts

using morphing technologies [8]
6 Morphing Wing Design - Prototype

Fig 11: Sweep Change Mechanism [7]

Fig 9: Design of the Variable Fig 10: Span change mechanism [7]
span wing structure [7]

Fig 12: Pressure Transducer / Condenser

microphone locations [7]

Fig 8: Morphing wing prototype [7]

Table 1: Dimensions of the Morphing UAV
model [7]
7 Morphing UAV Aerodynamic Model

Fig 12 : Morphing variation in 𝐶𝐿0 [7] Fig 13 : Morphing variation in 𝐶𝐿𝛼 [7]
8 Morphing UAV Aerodynamic Model (…contd)

Fig 14 : Morphing variation in 𝐶𝐿𝛿𝑒 [7] Fig 15 : Morphing variation in 𝐶𝐿𝑞 [7]
9 Morphing UAV Aerodynamic Model (…contd)

Fig16 : Morphing variation in 𝐶𝑀𝛼 [7] Fig17: Morphing variation in𝐶𝑀𝑞 [7] Fig18: Morphing variation in 𝐶𝑀𝛿𝑒 [7]
10 References
[1] H. Garcia, M. Abdulrahim and R. Lind, "Roll control for a Micro Air Vehicle using Active wing Morphing, “ University of
Florida, Gainsville, 2002.

[2] J. S. Flanagan, R. C. Strutzenberg, R. B. Meyers and J. E. Rodrian, "Development and Flight Testing of a morphing
aircraft, the NextGen MFX-l, " in 48th AIAA structures, Structural Dynamics and Material Conference, Hawaii , 2007.

[3] Y. Zhao and H. Hu, "Prediction of transient responses of a folding wing during the morphing process, " Aerospace
Science and Technology, vol. 24, pp. 89-94, 2011.

[4] A. Chakravarthy, D. T. Grant and R. Lind, "Tirne Varying Dynamics of a Micro Air Vehicle with Variable-Sweep
Morphing“,Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, vol. 35, no. 3, p. 890, 2012.

[5] F.L.Engineering, "Surfaces, "2012.[Online].Available: http://www.flightlevelengineering.com/surfaces.

[6] M. S. Selig, "Low reynolds number airfoil design, " in Lecture notes , 2003.

[7] N.Prabhakar, R.Prazenica, S.Gudmundsson, “Dynamic Analysis of a Variable-Span, Variable-Sweep Morphing UAV”

[8] Barbarino, S., Bilgen, 0., Ajaj, R.M., Friswell, M.I, and Inman, D.l "A Review of Morphing Aircraft, " Journal of Intelligent
Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 22, June 2011.

[9] Weisshaar, Terrence A. "Morphing Aircraft Technology - New Shapes for Aircraft Design, " Multifunctional Structures /
Integration of Sensors and Antennas. West Lafayette, Indiana. 2006. pp. 01-1 - 01-20.

[10] Zhao, Y., & Hu, H. (2011). Prediction of transient responses of a folding wing during the morphing process. Aerospace
Science and Technology, 24, 89-94.
11

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