Impact of Morphing Winglets on Aircraft Performance

Morphing winglets are devices that can improve aircraft aerodynamic efficiency and also be used as load alleviation devices. However, this implementation comes with a weight penalty due to the morphing mechanisms. In the present study two morphing winglet cases are tested, where due to mechanisms compatibilities, only a variable Cant-Span...

Topology optimization of 3D linkages with application to morphing winglets

Topology optimization is the process of optimizing both the material layout and the connectivity inside a design domain. The first paper on topology optimization dates back to 1904, when the Australian inventor Michell derived optimality criteria for minimum weight truss structures. In 1988 Bendsøe and Kikuchi published the pioneering paper ...