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US 7,597,285 B2Granted
Fluid dynamically effective surface for minimizing induced resistance
AssigneeAirbus Deutschland GmbH
InventorJohannes Schweiger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fluid dynamically effective surface of a device moving in a fluid, especially a lifting surface of a flying machine, has an elastic axis extending in the span direction of the surface, and an adjustable control surface. The lifting surface is elastically deformable in a bending direction and/or in a torsion direction about the elastic axis, due to and dependent on the adjustment of the control surface, while changing the induced fluid dynamic drag. A control and/or regulating arrangement is provided for adjusting the control surface in the sense of minimizing the induced fluid dynamic drag of the lifting surface.
Claims17
An aircraft wing arrangement comprising:
- an aircraft lifting wing bounded by a leading edge, a trailing edge and a wingtip edge, wherein said wingtip edge is an outward end edge of said lifting wing, which outward end edge extends from said leading edge to said trailing edge, and wherein said lifting wing is elastically deformable in a bending direction and in a torsional direction about an elastic axis of said lifting wing extending in a span direction outwardly to said wingtip edge between said leading edge and said trailing edge;
- a control surface that is pivotably connected to said lifting wing so as to be pivotable about a rotation axis extending forward of said leading edge and non-perpendicular to said elastic axis and non-parallel to said wingtip edge, wherein said control surface is located offset by a spacing distance in front of said elastic axis, wherein a pivoting deflection of said control surface about said rotation axis is adapted to exert an aerodynamic force that elastically deforms said lifting wing in said bending direction and said torsional direction about said elastic axis and thereby varies an induced drag of said lifting wing during flight of said aircraft, and wherein said control surface is located inwardly from and does not extend outwardly beyond a line extending along said wingtip edge of said lifting wing in all pivoting deflection positions of said control surface about said rotation axis;
- and
- a control and/or regulation arrangement adapted to generate an actuating signal according to which said pivoting deflection of said control surface is actuated so as to vary said induced drag toward minimization of said induced drag.
1 more element
An aircraft wing arrangement comprising:
- an aircraft lifting wing bounded by a leading edge, a trailing edge and a wingtip edge, wherein said wingtip edge is an outward end edge of said lifting wing, which outward end edge extends from said leading edge to said trailing edge, and wherein said lifting wing is elastically deformable in a bending direction and in a torsional direction about an elastic axis of said lifting wing extending in a span direction outwardly to said wingtip edge between said leading edge and said trailing edge;
- a control surface that is pivotably connected to said lifting wing so as to be pivotable about a rotation axis extending forward of said leading edge and non-perpendicular to said elastic axis and non-parallel to said wingtip edge, wherein said control surface is located offset by a spacing distance in front of said elastic axis, and wherein a pivoting deflection of said control surface about said rotation axis is adapted to exert an aerodynamic force that elastically deforms said lifting wing in said bending direction and said torsional direction about said elastic axis and thereby varies an induced drag of said lifting wing during flight of said aircraft and wherein said control surface is located inwardly from and does not extend outwardly beyond a line extending along said wingtip edge of said lifting wing in all pivoting deflection positions of said control surface about said rotation axis;
- and
- a control and/or regulation arrangement adapted to generate an actuating signal according to which said pivoting deflection of said control surface is actuated so as to influence an actual elastic deformation of said lifting wing to vary said induced drag toward minimization of said induced drag, and wherein said control and/or regulation arrangement includes a measurement unit arranged and adapted to measure said actual elastic deformation of said lifting wing.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.