U. Kling, C. Gologan, A.T. Isikveren, M. Hornung

Taking a step beyond conventional aircraft layouts, aerodynamic efficiency may be improved to a significant degree by the adoption of radical new wing designs. One such approach is the non-planar C-wing (CW), as exemplified by the "Ce-Liner", a so-called universally electric aircraft concept unveiled by Bauhaus Luftfahrt in 2012. One of the interesting features of the Ce-Liner non-planar CW configuration is a longitudinal control power and self-trimming capability via a stabilator-like function of the Top-Wing (TW) panel incorporated because of the absence of a horizontal tail. In this work an aero-elastic examination of the CW configuration is presented in order to demonstrate this self-trimming capability under consideration of vortex-induced drag reduction and weight impact compared to an equivalent, conventional in-plane reference wing (RW). The aero-structural characteristics of the wing were predicted using a well-known low-fidelity code based upon the Vortex Lattice Method coupled to a simplified non-linear finite element beam model. Both 1.0g, steady, level cruise and 2.5g symmetric pull-up cases for different TW incidence angles are presented. Results have shown that typical cruise can be accommodated in terms of sufficient trim authority, however, for the 2.5g load case the most aft center-of-gravity allowable was approximately 14% Mean Aerodynamic Chord short of the maximum aft required with respect to loadability considerations. Direct and equitable comparisons between the RW plus stabilizer combination and CW found a 14.9% reduction in vortex-induced drag, favorable to the CW. Similarly, this produced an aircraft-level drag reduction of 6.8%. In addition, the estimated mass difference between RW plus stabilizer combination and CW resulted in the CW having a 3.9% penalty.

Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2013, Stuttgart

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt - Lilienthal-Oberth e.V., Bonn, 2014

Conference Paper

englisch

21,0 x 29,7 cm, 9 Seiten

urn:nbn:de:101:1-2014082212683

aeroelasticity, self-trimming non-planar wing

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22.08.2014