Smart material trailing edge variable chord morphing wing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9457887-B2
Application number	US-201414198012-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 5, 2014
Priority date	Mar 5, 2014
Publication date	Oct 4, 2016
Grant date	Oct 4, 2016

Abstract

An apparatus and methods for changing the shape of a wing using a trailing edge morphing beam. One example method includes coupling a trailing edge portion comprising a morphing beam to an elastic central portion of the wing. The morphing beam comprises a first portion formed of smart material and a second portion formed of elastic material. The method further includes actuating the smart material in the first portion of the morphing beam to change the shape of the elastic central portion of the wing and the elastic material of the morphing beam. The morphing beam can be configured to hold a first position corresponding to a minimum chord-length of the wing and a second position corresponding to a maximum chord length of the wing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A wing, comprising:
a leading edge portion;
a trailing edge portion comprising a morphing beam extending in a span-wise direction of the wing from a wing root to a wing tip, and the morphing beam subject to having a span-wise curvature changed via bending, in a chord-wise direction of the wing, from a first stable position to a second stable position by actuation of a smart material included in the morphing beam, with the remainder of the trailing edge portion configured to conform to the morphing beam's span-wise curvature; and
a central portion attached between the morphing beam and the leading edge portion, the central portion configured to change its shape in the chord-wise direction of the wing to accommodate changes in the morphing beam's span-wise curvature to thereby change a bottom surface area and a top surface area of the wing.

2. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the leading edge portion comprises a rigid structure.

3. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the central portion comprises an elastic structure that forms an outer surface of the central portion.

4. The wing of claim 3 , wherein the elastic structure comprises at least one of an elastomeric membrane or a sliding scale structure.

5. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the central portion defines a cavity and includes an expandable and collapsible structure disposed within the cavity.

6. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the first stable position of the morphing beam corresponds to a minimum chord length of the wing.

7. The wing of claim 6 , wherein the second stable position of the morphing beam corresponds to a maximum chord length of the wing.

8. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the morphing beam comprises a first portion formed of the smart material and a second portion formed of elastic material.

9. The wing of claim 8 , wherein the second portion is subject to bending in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position by actuation of the smart material in the first portion.

10. The wing of claim 8 , wherein the morphing beam comprises a third portion formed of an additional smart material.

11. The wing of claim 10 , wherein the second portion is sandwiched between the first portion and the third portion, and the second portion is subject to bending in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position by actuation of any one of the smart material in the first portion and the smart material in the third portion.

12. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the leading edge portion is configured to change its shape at the wing tip responsive to actuation of the smart material in the morphing beam.

13. The wing of claim 1 , wherein the trailing edge portion further comprises:
a control surface portion extending in the span-wise direction of the wing, the control surface portion configured to conform to the morphing beam's span-wise curvature.

14. The wing of claim 13 , wherein the control surface portion is located aft of the morphing beam.

15. A method for changing a span-wise curvature of a trailing edge portion of a wing, comprising:
in a wing having a trailing edge portion including a morphing beam extending in a span-wise direction of the wing from a wing root to a wing tip, and the morphing beam subject to having a span-wise curvature changed via bending, in a chord-wise direction of the wing, from a first stable position to a second stable position by the actuation of a smart material included in the morphing beam, with the remainder of the trailing edge portion configured to conform to the morphing beam's span-wise curvature, and an elastic central portion affixed to the morphing beam and configured to change shape in the chord-wise direction of the wing to accommodate changes in the morphing beam's span-wise curvature:
with the morphing beam in the first stable position, a step of actuating the smart material in the morphing beam to bend the morphing beam in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position, to thereby change the morphing beam's span-wise curvature, with the remainder of the trailing edge portion conforming to the morphing beam's span-wise curvature, change the shape of the elastic central portion of the wing to accommodate the change in the morphing beam's span-wise curvature, and change a bottom surface area and a top surface area of the wing.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the morphing beam comprises a first portion formed of the smart material, a second portion formed of elastic material and a third portion formed of additional smart material, with the second portion sandwiched between the first portion and the third portion, and the step of actuating the smart material in the morphing beam further comprises:
actuating the smart material in the first portion and the smart material in the second portion to bend the morphing beam in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the elastic central portion of the wing includes at least one of an elastomeric membrane or a sliding scale structure, and the step of actuating the smart material in the morphing beam further comprises:
actuating the smart material in the morphing beam to bend the morphing beam in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position, to thereby change the shape of the at least one of the elastomeric membrane or the sliding scale structure of the elastic central portion of the wing to accommodate the change in the morphing beam's span-wise curvature.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the elastic central portion of the wing defines a cavity and includes an expandable and collapsible structure disposed within the cavity, wherein the step of actuating the smart material in the morphing beam further comprises:
actuating the smart material in the morphing beam to bend the morphing beam in the chord-wise direction of the wing from the first stable position to the second stable position, to thereby change the shape of the expandable and collapsible structure to accommodate the change in the morphing beam's span-wise curvature.

Assignees

• Toyota Motor Eng & Mfg North America Inc

Inventors

• Roe Robert W
• Gandhi Umesh N

Classifications

• Y02T50/145

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• Y10T29/49

  Method of mechanical manufacture · CPC title

• B64C2003/445

  by changing shape according to the speed, e.g. by morphing · CPC title

• B64C3/54

  Varying in area · CPC title

• B64C3/44 Primary

  Varying camber · CPC title