Influence of membrane wing active deformation on the aerodynamic performance of an aircraft model

The aerodynamic performance of a simplified aircraft model with a pair of actively deformed membrane wings is investigated experimentally in this work. The active deformation is achieved with Macro fiber composite (MFC) actuators, which are attached to the upper surface of the wings and occupied 13.7% of the wing surface area. Wind tunnel experiments are conducted to evaluate the influence of membrane active deformation on the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft. The results show that the membrane deforms and vibrates under the actuation which can effectively suppress the leading-edge separation and facilitate the reattachment. Therefore, compared with the rigid wing model, the lift coefficient of the actively deformed membrane wing model is enhanced remarkably from the angle of attack of 7° to 22°. The stall angle is delayed by 2°, and a maximum lift coefficient enhancement of 32.5% is reached, which shows a wide potential application in improving the aerodynamic performance of modern aircraft.