Aeroelastic wing shaping using distributed propulsion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9751614-B1
Application number	US-201514986011-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 31, 2015
Priority date	Feb 20, 2015
Publication date	Sep 5, 2017
Grant date	Sep 5, 2017

Abstract

An aircraft has wings configured to twist during flight. Inboard and outboard propulsion devices, such as turbofans or other propulsors, are connected to each wing, and are spaced along the wing span. A flight controller independently controls thrust of the inboard and outboard propulsion devices to significantly change flight dynamics, including changing thrust of outboard propulsion devices to twist the wing, and to differentially apply thrust on each wing to change yaw and other aspects of the aircraft during various stages of a flight mission. One or more generators can be positioned upon the wing to provide power for propulsion devices on the same wing, and on an opposite wing.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An aircraft, comprising:
at least two wings, each wing configured to twist during flight along a portion of the length of the wing;
at least one inboard propulsion engine connected to each wing, located at some distance along the wing span;
at least one outboard propulsion engine connected to each wing, located at some distance along the wing span, the at least one outboard propulsion engine positioned closer to a wing tip of the wing to which it is connected than the at least one inboard propulsion engine; and
a controller configured to independently control thrust of the at least one outboard propulsion engine and the at least one inboard propulsion engine, including controlling thrust of the at least one outboard propulsion engine to produce the twist to thereby significantly change flight dynamics of the aircraft while maintaining aeroelastic stability.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine are positioned in the chordwise direction relative to the wing airfoil of each wing.

3. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine are positioned on at least one of the upper, lower, or both surfaces of each wing.

4. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to independently control thrust of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine, to change a yaw angle of the aircraft while maintaining lift of the aircraft.

5. The aircraft of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to independently control thrust of each of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and each of the at least one outboard propulsion engine for each wing, to thereby control flight dynamics of the aircraft in the event of failure of at least one inboard or outboard propulsion engine.

6. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to independently control thrust of the at least one outboard propulsion engine and the at least one inboard propulsion engine to thereby twist and change the shape of the wings to improve a lift-to-drag ratio during at least one of takeoff, cruise, and landing of the aircraft while maintaining aeroelastic stability.

7. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine include at least four propulsion engines.

8. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine are electric fan engines.

9. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein the aircraft further includes at least one electricity generator configured to generate electricity to operate the electric fan engines.

10. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one outboard propulsion engine is located closer to the wing tip than the wing root.

11. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the at least one inboard propulsion engine or the at least one outboard propulsion engine is an electric fan engine.

12. The aircraft of claim 11 , wherein an electrical system of the aircraft includes a battery configured to provide electricity to the electric fan engine.

13. The aircraft of claim 1 , further including at least one propulsion engine proximate a tip of the wing forming a winglet operative to reduce wing tip vortices for drag reduction, the at least one propulsion engine located closer to the wing tip than the wing root.

14. The aircraft of claim 1 , further including at least one propulsion engine configured to impart a lateral thrust force to create bending moment to change the shape of the wings to improve a lift-to-drag ratio during at least one of takeoff, cruise, and landing of the aircraft while maintaining aeroelastic stability.

15. The aircraft of claim 1 , further including at least one propulsion engine and a thrust vector flap positioned directly behind the propulsion engine to generate the vertical lift component to change the wing bending shape.

16. A method of changing flight dynamics during flight of an aircraft, comprising:
providing an aircraft having:
at least one inboard propulsion engine connected to each wing;
at least one outboard propulsion engine connected to each wing, the at least one outboard propulsion engine positioned closer to a wing tip of the wing to which it is connected than the at least one inboard propulsion engine;
two wings each configured to twist during flight along a portion of a length of each wing using the at least one outboard propulsion engine; and
a controller configured to independently control thrust of the at least one outboard propulsion engine and the at least one inboard propulsion engine, including controlling thrust of at least the at least one outboard propulsion engine to cause the twist during flight;

adjusting, with the controller, a thrust level of at least one of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine to cause wing twist during flight.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein twisting is carried out by the controller by applying more thrust to the at least one outboard propulsion engine compared to thrust of the at least one inboard propulsion engine.

18. The method of claim 16 , further including configuring the controller for distributing power to reduce or eliminate asymmetric thrust due to power loss, the controller reducing or eliminating asymmetric thrust by adjusting a thrust level of an operational propulsion engine of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine.

19. The method of claim 16 , further including configuring the controller for carrying out a coordinated turn control using asymmetric thrust only, the controller carrying out a coordinated turn by adjusting a thrust level of at least one of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine.

20. The method of claim 16 , further including using the controller to control yaw by adjusting a thrust level of at least one of the at least one inboard propulsion engine and the at least one outboard propulsion engine in coordination with controlling aileron positioning.

Assignees

• Nasa
• Nasa

Inventors

• Nguyen Nhan T
• Reynolds Kevin Wayne
• Ting Eric B

Classifications

• B64D27/18

  within, or attached to, wings · CPC title

• B64C15/02

  the jets being propulsion jets · CPC title

• B64C3/32

  specially adapted for mounting power plant · CPC title

• B64C3/52 Primary

  Warping · CPC title

• B64C3/10

  Shape of wings · CPC title