Design, Modeling, and Identification of a Passive Tilting Wing Based on Offset Distribution Electric Propulsion

Abstract

The increasing demand for sustainable, efficient, and versatile air mobility solutions has accelerated research into Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) configurations. While tilt-rotor and tilt-wing designs offer high cruise efficiency by employing the same propulsion units for lift and thrust, conventional implementations rely on complex and heavy actuation systems, limiting payload capacity and endurance. This thesis proposes a novel passive tilt-wing concept based on offset Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), in which asymmetric propeller placement and differential thrust are used to control wing tilt without dedicated actuators. The configuration aims to reduce structural complexity and weight while enhancing aerodynamic performance.

However, effective modeling of coupled propeller–wing aerodynamics across a wide AoA range, which is critical for tilt-wing VTOL aircraft, remains lacking. Existing methods either lack accuracy at high AoA (low-order models) or are too computationally expensive for early-stage design (high-fidelity CFD), limiting their applicability to tilt-wing DEP systems. To address this issue, a data-driven aerodynamic modeling framework is developed to predict propeller–wing interactions over a wide angle-of-attack range. The approach combines a physics-informed propeller digital twin—constructed from wind tunnel load and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements—with computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based clean-wing aerodynamic results, corrected for slipstream effects. This model enables accurate and computationally efficient estimation of aerodynamic loads under conditions typical of VTOL transition flight, and is validated against wind tunnel experiments. Parametric studies are conducted to explore the influence of propeller installation parameters on cruise and take-off efficiency, revealing optimal placements for both performance and control authority.

The thesis is organized as follows: Part I presents the scientific paper, focusing on the principal innovations of this project in the field of propeller–wing interaction analysis, detailing the development, validation, and application of the modeling of propeller-wing aerodynamic interaction. Part II covers other aspects of the project, including the literature review, the conceptual design of the passive tilt-wing VTOL configuration, preliminary explorations of propeller–wing modeling, and the feasibility analysis and optimization of the proposed passive tilt-wing design.