Aerodynamic Modeling of Morphing Wings Using an Extended Lifting-Line Analysis

摘要

This paper presents an extension of Weissinger's method and its use in analyzing morphing wings. This method is shown to be ideal for preliminary analyses of these wings due to its speed and adaptability to many disparate wing geometries. It extends Prandtl's lifting-line theory to planform wings of arbitrary curvature and chord distribution and nonideal airfoil cross sections. The problem formulation described herein leads to an integrodifferential equation for the unknown circulation distribution. It is solved using Gaussian quadrature and a sine-series representation of this distribution. In this paper, this technique is used to analyze the aerodynamics of a morphable gull-like wing. Specifically, this wing's ability to manipulate lift-to-drag efficiency and center of pressure location is discussed.