Jacques van Oene
March 16th 05, 05:43 PM
Elvia H. Thompson
Headquarters, Washington March 16, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1696)
Alan Brown
Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif.
(Phone: 661/276-2665)
RELEASE: 05-076
NASA TESTS SHOW WING WARPING CONTROLS AIRCRAFT AT HIGH SPEEDS
A NASA flight research project, designed to test a derivative of the
Wright Brothers' concept of wing-warping to control aircraft turns,
indicates the concept works, even at supersonic speeds.
This high-tech version of century-old technology may have an impact on
aircraft design. It may make airplanes more maneuverable at high speeds,
enable them to carry heavier payloads or use fuel more efficiently.
The Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) project is located at NASA's Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The project is evaluating
active control of lighter-weight flexible wings for improved maneuverability
of high-performance aircraft. The project is jointly sponsored and managed
by NASA, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, Ohio; and Boeing's Phantom Works, St. Louis.
"It works!" concluded project manager Larry Myers during AAW flight tests at
Dryden. "We have demonstrated a number of subsonic and supersonic flight
conditions, where we have actually taken advantage of the aeroelasticity of
the wing," Myers explained. "We've gotten excellent results, good agreement
with predicted results, and roll rates are comparable to what we predicted
in simulation. It looks like we've proven the AAW concept," he added.
Active computerized control of wing flexibility is a step toward the
"morphing" concept, where aircraft can change their shape to adapt to
differing aerodynamic conditions. The AAW is primarily intended to benefit
aircraft that operate in the transonic speed range. The range is
approximately 80 to 120 percent of the speed of sound, where traditional
control surfaces become minimally effective or ineffective.
Wing flexibility is generally a negative at those speeds. Wing flexibility
tends to offset or counteract the effects of normal aileron movements at
high aerodynamic pressures. The AAW concept reverses the traditional
approach to this problem. The traditional approach has been stiffening the
wings of high-performance aircraft with more structure and more weight. AAW
reduces the structure and weight. It then actively controls the wing
flexibility via computerized flight controls.
Data obtained from flight tests at Dryden will help guide the design of
future aircraft including high-performance fighters, high altitude-long
endurance uninhabited aerial vehicles, large transport aircraft and
high-speed, long-range aircraft.
The test aircraft is an F/A-18A Hornet obtained from the U.S. Navy. It
carries extensive instrumentation to measure the twisting and bending of the
wing during flight. Once the flight research is successfully completed, the
inventors will turn toward spreading the AAW design philosophy to the
technical community.
"Transitioning AAW will likely be a relatively long process, since it
represents a design philosophy," said Pete Flick, Air Force AAW program
manager. "The application to future aircraft will depend on specific design
requirements of those future systems. The benefits are greatest when a
vehicle design is initiated with AAW in mind, and limited when applied to an
existing vehicle," he added.
The flight tests were conducted as part of the Vehicle Systems Program of
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. For more information about
Aeronautics at NASA on the Internet, visit:
www.aeronautics.nasa.gov
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info
Headquarters, Washington March 16, 2005
(Phone: 202/358-1696)
Alan Brown
Dryden Flight Research Center, Calif.
(Phone: 661/276-2665)
RELEASE: 05-076
NASA TESTS SHOW WING WARPING CONTROLS AIRCRAFT AT HIGH SPEEDS
A NASA flight research project, designed to test a derivative of the
Wright Brothers' concept of wing-warping to control aircraft turns,
indicates the concept works, even at supersonic speeds.
This high-tech version of century-old technology may have an impact on
aircraft design. It may make airplanes more maneuverable at high speeds,
enable them to carry heavier payloads or use fuel more efficiently.
The Active Aeroelastic Wing (AAW) project is located at NASA's Dryden Flight
Research Center, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The project is evaluating
active control of lighter-weight flexible wings for improved maneuverability
of high-performance aircraft. The project is jointly sponsored and managed
by NASA, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base, Ohio; and Boeing's Phantom Works, St. Louis.
"It works!" concluded project manager Larry Myers during AAW flight tests at
Dryden. "We have demonstrated a number of subsonic and supersonic flight
conditions, where we have actually taken advantage of the aeroelasticity of
the wing," Myers explained. "We've gotten excellent results, good agreement
with predicted results, and roll rates are comparable to what we predicted
in simulation. It looks like we've proven the AAW concept," he added.
Active computerized control of wing flexibility is a step toward the
"morphing" concept, where aircraft can change their shape to adapt to
differing aerodynamic conditions. The AAW is primarily intended to benefit
aircraft that operate in the transonic speed range. The range is
approximately 80 to 120 percent of the speed of sound, where traditional
control surfaces become minimally effective or ineffective.
Wing flexibility is generally a negative at those speeds. Wing flexibility
tends to offset or counteract the effects of normal aileron movements at
high aerodynamic pressures. The AAW concept reverses the traditional
approach to this problem. The traditional approach has been stiffening the
wings of high-performance aircraft with more structure and more weight. AAW
reduces the structure and weight. It then actively controls the wing
flexibility via computerized flight controls.
Data obtained from flight tests at Dryden will help guide the design of
future aircraft including high-performance fighters, high altitude-long
endurance uninhabited aerial vehicles, large transport aircraft and
high-speed, long-range aircraft.
The test aircraft is an F/A-18A Hornet obtained from the U.S. Navy. It
carries extensive instrumentation to measure the twisting and bending of the
wing during flight. Once the flight research is successfully completed, the
inventors will turn toward spreading the AAW design philosophy to the
technical community.
"Transitioning AAW will likely be a relatively long process, since it
represents a design philosophy," said Pete Flick, Air Force AAW program
manager. "The application to future aircraft will depend on specific design
requirements of those future systems. The benefits are greatest when a
vehicle design is initiated with AAW in mind, and limited when applied to an
existing vehicle," he added.
The flight tests were conducted as part of the Vehicle Systems Program of
NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. For more information about
Aeronautics at NASA on the Internet, visit:
www.aeronautics.nasa.gov
-end-
--
--------------
Jacques :-)
www.spacepatches.info