Wind Tunnel Testing of Wing Warping System

1
Wind Tunnel Testing of Wing Warping System

• Group 15
• Lindsay Hardy
• Michael Hays
• Michael Rodriguez
• Joshua Smith

2
Project Recap

• Replace traditional aileron control systems with
  Piezo-Mechanical MFC (Microfiber Composites)
• MFC is used to control aircraft roll maneuvers

• Previous Work
• MFC Characterization
• Miniaturization of HV circuitry
• FEM modeling of deflected wing

• New Accomplishments
• Verification of FEM models
• Wind tunnel testing of wing

3
Comparison of previous and current MFC

• Simplifies system
• No longer splitting the voltage
• Reduces wiring through wing
• Only one MFC required as opposed to two
• No cost impact
• Cost is the same as two smaller MFCs

4
Wind Tunnel Testing

• Setup and Test Parameters
• Mounted wing in force balance
• Force balance set for uni-axial roll
  characterization
• Tested wind speeds from 0 up to 47 miles/hr
• (falls within maximum rated flight speed)
• Correlated voltage signal to lift characteristics

MFC
Load Cells
5
Data Acquisition Set Up

• Data Loop
• - Load Cell
• - Signal Conditioner
• - Voltage Display

Signal Conditioner
6
Tests Performed

• Manual deflection
• Wing preset at specific deflection by hand (
  baseline data)
• MFC deflection
• During test wing is deflected by MFC

Size Comparison of MFC
7
Manual Deflection (proof of theory)

• With wing tip deflected to .25 in total lift
  increases by 25

8
MFC deflection

• With maximum deflection of MFC lift increases by
  46

9
Contribution of MFC

• - Uni-axial load cell configuration
• Verification that induced lift is being caused by
  the tip condition
• Allows for angular acceleration to be determined
• angular acceleration 22.74 rad/s

10
Future Plans

• Design method of discharging voltage from EMCO
  (DC-HVDC) device
• Assemble final aircraft configuration
• Integration of two control systems
• Traditional flight controls
• MFC control system
• Demonstrate flying capabilities in flight test

11
Acknowledgements
12
Questions