Flexible airfoil

German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Composite Structures and Adaptive Systems. Research into this morphing wing leading edge “droop nose” has been conducted over the last decade at the DLR and this technology has been extensively tested in wind tunnels and ground based testing, including fatigue, temperature, bird-strike and lightning strike tests and considerations for anti and de-icing. The capabilities of such flexible morphing structures to handle the challenges of flight is demonstrated and technology development is ongoing at the DLR.



More Info on DLR Morphing Wing Leading Edge Droop Nose Technology:

[didiandiano]

interesting to see how many repetitions the material can take

[albertbatfinder]

Birds been flexing their aerofoils for 60 million years. Also, they never evolved copyright lawyers, so go for it !

[TheArklyte]

"So, how many tons of extra hydraulics do you want on your plane?"
"Yes."

[xygn]

Interesting! How tough can the flexible parts be if they are cooled to -50°C? Don't they become brittle?

[SuperChicken]

Thanks to Mike Patey my feed is full of these now.

[kksmith]

Great idea if the efficiency is worth the extra maintenance.

[CarbonFlight]

You could post a video of a functioning time machine and youtube commenters would find a way to be insulting.

[JOki]

Please give according credit, this is a Demonstrator from DLR! Developed within e.g. EU FP7 Project SADE and SARISTU.

[lohphat]

Good concept, but how does it handle hail and repeated freeze/thaw cycles compared to aluminum?

[laurencef]

Aero engineer's take: Would only help with take off and landing efficiency, but the trade off isnt worth it, lots of parts that would need to be regularly inspected in a difficult to get to place. Also that trailing edge is an awful shape. In addition to the fact that the structural rigidity would be far lower than the standard ribs and spars spanning the whole wing. And would likely take space away from the fuel tank, which would need to be elongated down the wing to keep the same capacity, which in turn makes roll maneuvers more sluggish due to a larger concentration of mass further away from the rotation axis. Plenty of other draw backs i could go into, overall not feasible for any aircraft that would benefit from the changeable aerofoil shape. Apart from possibly a trans-sonic aircraft, although the leading edge rather than the trailing edge would need to be changing, and a material strong enough for a leading edge that is compliant enough for changing shape at this time doesnt exist.

[jameshoffmann]

That’s incredible. Does the surface area of the wing change as the shape changes?

[marcobastoy]

This is great but when the motor or servo got problems then remove the whole wing from it.

[muhammadalishah]

can this be upgraded into a wing? How will you ensure bending stability without conventional spar and ribs network?

[ilgarjafarli]

А что за материал такой гибкий? Сильно его механические свойства зависят от температуры окружающей среды?

[blindbrick]

A Delta wing glider with floating keel bar has a variable airfoil. The wings get asymmetrical when You steer.

[jokerace]

It's an interesting concept, but can it actually work on a tapering wing?

[xygn]

I sound about the same getting out of bed on a Monday morning.

[bencrawshaw]

I agree with the last comment. Is the material stable enough for constant repetition.

[Wall_T.]

предлагаю схему эксцентриков (изогнутых стержней) с шагом нервюр(или реже) при вращении они сдвигают вверх или вниз стрингеры что образуют форму "носка" крыла. Если програмно разнести вращение эксцентриков (через шаг) можно удвоить эффект или в принципе обратить "носок" в другую сторону. Если сделать програмно вращение эксцентриков независимым то по длине крыла носок может менять профиль произвольно

[modecharlie]

This takes wing warping to the next level