Evaluating the Aerodynamic Performance of MFC-Actuated Morphing Wings to Control a Small UAV

The purpose of this research is to evaluate certain performance characteristics of a morphing
wing system that uses Macro Fiber Composites (MFC) to create camber change. This
thesis can be broken into two major sections. The first half compares a few current MFC
airfoil designs to each other and to a conventional servomechanism (servo) airfoil. Their
performance was measured in terms of lift and drag in a 2-D wind tunnel. The results
showed MFC airfoils were effective but limited by aeroelasticity compared to the servo. In
addition, a morphed airfoil and a flapped airfoil were rapid prototyped and tested to isolate
the effects of discontinuity. The continuous morphed airfoil produced more lift with less
drag.
The second half of this thesis work focused on determining the ideal MFC configurations for
a thin wing application. Simulations were run on a thin wing with embedded MFCs such
that the whole wing morphed. Finite element and vortex lattice models were used to predict
deflections and rolling moment coefficients. Different configuration parameters were then
varied to quantify their effect. The comparisons included MFC location, number of MFCs,
material substrate, and wing thickness. A prototype wing was then built and flight tested.
While the simulations overestimated the wing deflection, the flight results illustrated the
complexity and variability associated with the MFC morphing system. The rolling moment
coefficients from flight were consistent with the simulation given the differences in deflection.