The primary aim of the MAWS project is to develop an inverse design technique to determine the internal stiffness distribution in the wing-tip in order to meet an in-flight defined aerodynamic shape as well as providing inherent gust loads alleviation.

Objectives

Development of a Reduced Order Model (ROM) inverse approach to determine the stiffness requirements of aircraft wings, and hence the internal structure, in order to meet defined aerodynamic shapes (e.g. giving maximum L/D ratio) including wash-in, wash-out and neutral aerodynamic lift.

• Definition of an adaptive spar/rib concept to enable the variation in stiffness requirements to be met;
• Evaluation of the selective shape capability of the concept and optimisation of the design for a range of flight conditions; and
• Definition of the limitations of the concept and ROM approach, including power requirements.

Scope

Development of an aerodynamic shape optimisation approach based upon:

• Lamar’s method applicable for any point in the flight envelope;
• Development of beam FE model and aerodynamic panels for a Regional TurboJet wing;
• Development of an optimisation approach to obtain the minimum mass wing that achieves the required structural deflections at any point on the flight envelope subject to various structural constraints;
• Investigation into three different approaches of adaptive stiffness morphing: rotating spars, moving spars and moving spar caps to achieve required changes in bending and torsional stiffness along with moving the leading edge and trailing edge shape.
• Development of optimisation approach to determined required amount of morphing needed to achieve required aerodynamic shape throughout the flight envelope;
• Demonstration of approach on Regional TurboJet wing model; and
• Evaluation of the effects of uncertainty on the morphing optimisation process using Polynomial Chaos Expansion and Bayesian methods.