How the Airfoil Shape of a Morphing Wing Is Actuated and Controlled in a Smart Way

Abstract

This paper presents a smart way to actuate and control the airfoil shape of a morphing wing in the open-loop architecture. The actuation system uses smart material actuators such as shape memory alloys, disposed in two parallel actuation lines, and its control is performed with a Mamdani-type fuzzy logic proportional derivative (PD) controller. The morphing wing project description, its actuation system structure, and the control design and validation are highlighted in this paper. The results obtained by both numerical simulation and experimental validation (bench tests and wind-tunnel tests) are presented as part of the control design and validation. An analysis of the wind flow characteristics, based on the information provided by the pressure sensors mounted on the flexible skin of the morphing wing in the wind-tunnel tests, is included as a supplementary validation; the transition between laminar and turbulent flows is real-time visualized, and the aerodynamic efficiency of the controlled morphing wing is evaluated.