Morphing of high-lift wing-flap system with cambering and trailing-edge flapping at high Reynolds number towards a full airplane application

Abstract

This study concerns a numerical investigation of new morphing concepts by means of high-fidelity simulation around a high-lift wing-flap system and a real scale Airbus A320 airplane. A new designed hybrid morphing flap is proposed based on cambering at high deformation amplitudes associated with trailing-edge flapping at an actuation frequency in the order of 300 Hz. The numerical results are obtained using the code NSMB (Navier–Stokes Multi-Block) with adapted turbulence modeling over a generated Chimera grid and dynamic grid deformations. Optimal shapes of the cambering are studied in respect of the aerodynamic performance increase based on a quasi-static approach with a parametric study of different angles of attack, Reynolds numbers and cambering positions in addition to the dynamic cambering effects. Hybrid morphing is then examined using an AIRBUS A320 airplane with morphing high-lift flaps. An increase of the aerodynamic performance is obtained using these novel designs compared to the baseline configuration.