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The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel method for developing static aeroelastic models based on rapid prototyping for wind tunnel testing.

A metal frame and resin covers are applied to a static aeroelastic wind tunnel model, which uses the difference of metal and resin to achieve desired stiffness distribution by the stiffness similarity principle. The metal frame is made by traditional machining, and resin covers are formed by stereolithgraphy. As demonstrated by wind tunnel testing and stiffness measurement, the novel method of design and fabrication of the static aeroelastic model based on stereolithgraphy is practical and feasible, and, compared with that of the traditional static elastic model, is prospective due to its lower costs and shorter period for its design and production, as well as avoiding additional stiffness caused by outer filler.

This method for developing static aeroelastic wind tunnel model with a metal frame and resin covers is feasible, especially for aeroelastic wind tunnel models with complex external aerodynamic shape, which could be accurately constructed based on rapid prototypes in a shorter time with a much lower cost. The developed static aeroelastic aircraft model with a high aspect ratio shows its stiffness distribution in agreement with the design goals, and it is kept in a good condition through the wind tunnel testing at a Mach number ranging from 0.4 to 0.65.

The contact stiffness between the metal frame and resin covers is difficult to calculate accurately even by using finite element analysis; in addition, the manufacturing errors have some effects on the stiffness distribution of aeroelastic models, especially for small-size models.

The design, fabrication and ground testing of aircraft static aeroelastic models presented here provide accurate stiffness and shape stimulation in a cheaper and sooner way compared with that of traditional aeroelastic models. The ground stiffness measurement uses the photogrammetry, which can provide quick, and precise, evaluation of the actual stiffness distribution of a static aeroelastic model. This study, therefore, expands the applications of rapid prototyping on wind tunnel model fabrication, especially for the practical static aeroelastic wind tunnel tests.

The purpose of this paper is to present the benefits offered by rapid prototyping (RP) models for wind‐tunnel testing as part of fourth‐year aerospace engineering student projects. Ways of overcoming some of the difficulties associated with the 3D printing technology are also discussed.

Polymer‐based RP was used to fabricate two‐aircraft models, which included stiffening metallic inserts. Testing in a subsonic‐wind tunnel was carried out and the results compared to analytic performance predictions.

Low‐cost rapid prototypes of wind‐tunnel models yielded satisfactory aerodynamic performance. The savings in acquisition cost and time allowed incorporating actual testing in the aircraft design process within the framework of a tight academic budget and schedule.

Conducting real‐wind‐tunnel testing contributes significantly to the educational experience of students; however, it had rarely been carried out when metal model fabrication was the only option. In contrast, RP facilitates an enhanced and more realistic learning experience by offering a quick and affordable means of model manufacturing.

Simple methods of reinforcing polymer‐based models were incorporated, thus presenting an inexpensive way to test and evaluate preliminary aircraft designs, in both academia and industry.

This paper aims to report on the physical distortions associated with the use of additive manufactured components for wind tunnel testing and procedures adopted to correct for them.

Wings of a joined-wing test aircraft configuration were fabricated with additive manufacturing and tested in a subsonic closed-loop wind tunnel. Wing deflections were observed during testing and quantified using image-processing procedures. These quantified deflections were then incorporated into numerical simulations and results had agreed with wind tunnel measurement results.

Additive manufacturing provides cost-effective wing components for wind tunnel test components with fast turn-around time. They can be used with confidence if the wing deflections could be accounted for systematically and accurately, especially at the region of aerodynamic stall.

Significant wing flutter and unsteady deflections were encountered at higher test velocities and pitch angles. This reduced the accuracy in which the wing deflections could be corrected. Additionally, wing twists could not be quantified as effectively because of camera perspectives.

This paper shows that additive manufacturing can be used to fabricate aircraft test components with satisfactory strength and quantifiable deflections for wind tunnel testing, especially when the designs are significantly complex and thin.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach of using additively manufactured parametric models in the wind tunnel test-based aerodynamic shape optimization (ASO) framework and to present its applicability test results obtained from a realistic aircraft design problem.

For aircraft shape optimization, the following three methodologies were used. First, as a validation study, the possibility of using rapid prototyping (RP) model in the wind tunnel test was verified. Second, through the wind tunnel test-based ASO, the application and feasibility of the real fighter aircraft shape optimization were verified. A generic fighter configuration is parameterized to generate various test models using additive manufacturing. Wind tunnel tests are conducted to measure their stability criteria in high angle of attack (AOA). Finally, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study was performed and analysis procedures, costs and results compared to the wind tunnel test were compared and reviewed.

RP technology can significantly reduce the time and cost of generating parametric wind tunnel models and can open up new possibilities for wind tunnel tests to be used in the rigorous aerodynamic design loop. There was a slight difference between the results of the RP model and the metallic model because of rigidity and surface roughness. However, the tendency of the aerodynamic characteristics was very similarly predictable. Although there are limitations to obtaining precise aerodynamic data, it is a suitable method to be applied to comparative studies on various shapes with large geo-metric changes in the early phase of design. The CFD analysis indicates that the wind tunnel-based ASO using the RP model shows the efficiency corresponding to the CFD shape optimization.

The RP parametric models may have various assembly error sources and rigidity problems. The proposed methodology may not be suitable for collecting the accurate aerodynamic database of a final design; rather, the methodology is more suitable to screen out many configurations having fairly large shape variation in the early stage of the design process.

The wind tunnel test-based ASO can replace or supplement CFD-based ASO. In areas where CFD accuracy is low, such as high AOA flight characteristics, RP model wind tunnel-based ASO can be a research method that can secure both efficiency and accuracy advantages, providing ten times more effective in terms of cost and time. The wind tunnel test is used to obtain aerodynamic data at the final stage of shape design. It can be extended to a comparative study of several shapes in the early design phase. This procedure can be applied for both industrial level and educational aircraft design activities.

This study is the application to be applied as a parametric study on the whole aircraft, rather than using the RP model applying a simple partial control surface or configuration change of a part of the wing. The possibility of using the RP model was confirmed by comparing and verifying each other in a medium-sized wind tunnel using a relatively large RP model and a metallic model. It was verified that it can be applied in the shape design process, not the shape verification in the traditional design procedure, and a comparison with the CFD method was also performed. With further development and validation efforts, the new design framework may become an industrial standard for future aircraft development.

This paper aims to provide a detailed review of the experimental research on the prediction of aircraft spin and recovery characteristics using dynamically scaled aircraft models.

The paper organizes experimental techniques to predict aircraft spin and recovery characteristics into three broad categories: dynamic free-flight tests, dynamic force tests and a relatively novel technique called wind tunnel based virtual flight testing.

After a thorough review, usefulness, limitations and open problems in the presented techniques are highlighted to provide a useful reference to researchers. The area of application of each technique within the research scope of aircraft spin is also presented.

Previous reviews on the prediction of aircraft spin and recovery characteristics were published many years ago and also have confined scope as they address particular spin technologies. This paper attempts to provide a comprehensive review on the subject and fill the information void regarding the state of the art aircraft spin technologies.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the design and experimental work of compliant wing and wingtip morphing devices conducted within the EU FP7 project NOVEMOR and to demonstrate that the optimization tools developed can be used to synthesize compliant morphing devices.

The compliant morphing devices were “designed-through-optimization”, with the optimization algorithms including Simplex optimization for composite compliant skin design, aerodynamic shape optimization able to take into account the structural behaviour of the morphing skin, continuum-based and load path representation topology optimization methods and multi-objective optimization coupled with genetic algorithm for compliant internal substructure design. Low-speed subsonic wind tunnel testing was performed as an effective means of demonstrating proof-of-concept.

It was found that the optimization tools could be successfully implemented in the manufacture and testing stage. Preliminary insight into the performance of the compliant structure has been made during the first wind tunnel tests.

The tools in this work further the development of morphing structures, which when implemented in aircraft have potential implications to environmentally friendlier aircrafts.

The key innovations in this paper include the development of a composite skin optimization tool for the design of highly 3D morphing wings and its ensuing manufacture process; the development of a continuum-based topology optimization tool for shape control design of compliant mechanisms considering the stiffness and displacement functions; the use of a superelastic material for the compliant mechanism; and wind tunnel validation of morphing wing devices based on compliant structure technology.

For faster new product introduction aerospace companies are interested in reducing the time it takes to make wind tunnel models. The increased capabilities of rapid prototyping technologies has made them attractive for this purpose. A study was done of rapid prototyping technologies and their ability to make components for wind tunnel models in a timely and cost effective manner. Components and corresponding fabrication technologies were put into three categories: non‐structurally loaded, lightly loaded and highly loaded according to the stress endured during wind tunnel tests. Rapid prototyping technologies were found capable for non‐structurally loaded parts, but numerically controlled machining was still best for any part enduring significant loads.

The purpose of this research is a preliminary selection of wing section, which would be the best suited for PW-100 – a MALE class UAV of 600 kg weight. PW-100 will be used as a testing platform in different institutions such as research institutes, industry research centers or universities of technology (phase 1) to enable the in-flight testing of various on-board systems (mobile radars, thermovision sensors, chemical sensors, antennas, teledetection systems and others). Untypical layout of PW-100 resulted from the plans of further development of this configuration for a military application.

Important role in the research described in this paper plays the selection of main wing section to fulfil the preliminary requirements regarding maximum lift coefficient, minimum drag, aerodynamic efficiency etc. Two different wing sections (R1082 and SA19) were tested in wind tunnel, both with flaps deflected at the range of 0°-30°. Experimental measurements were performed in the low turbulence wind tunnel with closed test section of 45 cm × 35 cm. Numerical simulations of the flow around the wing sections were performed using MSES code. Boundary conditions were assumed basing on the typical mission of PW-100 for flight altitude around 9,000 m, speed of 110 km/h what results in Re = 956,000.

Lift coefficients obtained from both experimental and numerical methods for single slatted airfoil SA19 are much higher than that of get for Ronch R1082 airfoil. PW-100 aircraft with SA19 airfoils will be able to be trimmed and fly at any altitude up to 9,000 m and with an arbitrary weight up to 600 kg. Aerodynamic characteristics of SA19 remain smoother and more predictable than that of R1082 airfoil. The very promising properties of SA19 airfoil are well known to the authors since the beginning of last decade when PW team worked together with IAI team on CAPECON project and now it was fully confirmed by this research.

It was confirmed that selection of the proper wing section for the special mission performed by UAV is of the highest importance decision to be taken at the preliminary design phase. Because there is a limited access to the base of technical parameters in many different UAVs classes and the classical analysis of trends cannot be fully applied, the wing section analysis, either experimental or numerical, must be performed. The situation is much worse than in the case of manned aircrafts because most of the modern UAVs are made of carbon or glass fiber, and therefore, there is no chance for analysis of trends.

This paper presents a very efficient method of assessing the influence of wing section on aircraft performance adopted for MALE class UAV, especially in an early stage of preliminary design process. The assessment is built mainly on three requirements: Maximum 2D lift coefficient for take-off configuration with flap deflected on 20 degrees should be greater than 2.4. Endurance factor CL1.5/CD for loitering conditions (Ma = 0.5 and CD0 = 0.008) should be greater than 110. The relative wing section thickness should be greater/equal than 19 per cent (it is required for high volume fuel tank located in the wings).

The purpose of this paper is to develop a propeller performance measurement method for high-altitude platforms by analyzing of the propeller aerodynamic characteristics and application of a mobile testing system.

An experimental approach is adopted for this study. Considering the aerodynamic characteristics of the high-altitude propeller, the similitude of the scaled propeller model in the experiment is analyzed and determined. Then, the experimental method and procedure to obtain the propeller’s performance under different altitudes are presented, and the structure of hardware and software and the key techniques of the testing system are introduced in detail.

The applicability and effectiveness of the testing system is verified through comparison between experimental and numerical results. In addition, the performance of the 6.8-m propeller for a high-altitude airship is tested, which proves that the high-altitude propeller can meet the requirements of the propulsion system.

The testing methodology and the mobile testing system could be applied to aerodynamic performance evaluation of the high-altitude propellers under different altitudes.

This testing approach exhibits significant time and cost benefits over many other experimental methods to obtain the performance of the high-altitude propellers, which is important in the preliminary design of the propulsion system for high-altitude platforms.

DURING the past year the construction of the full‐scale wind tunnel and of the seaplane channel were completed. The new wind tunnel has an oval‐shaped throat, 60 ft. by 30 ft., which permits the testing of full‐size aeroplanes. This tunnel was placed in operation during the sixth annual aircraft engineering research conference on May 27, 1931. Since then studies have been made of the flow conditions and several tests on full‐size aeroplanes have been made. The tests made thus far have indicated that the operation of the tunnel will be satisfactory and that it will prove to be a valuable tool for studying the characteristics of full‐size aeroplanes.