MataMorph 2: A new experimental UAV with twist-morphing wings and camber-morphing tail stabilizers

Abstract

Morphing technology aims to improve both aerodynamic and power efficiency of aircrafts by eliminating traditional control surfaces and implementing uniform wings with seamless shapechanging ability. A lot of research has focused on proposing new designs for morphing wings, without implementation in a flying aircraft. Only few papers reported the design and flighttesting of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with morphing surfaces. Most of such designs focused only on wings, while the tail stabilizers are conventionally designed. This paper presents Matamorph-2 (XM-2), a fully morphing UAV with twisting wings and variablecamber tail stabilizers. XM-2 can perform all required maneuvers without any discrete control surfaces. The wings feature balsa wood structure, wing-root and wing-tip laminated composite skin sections and a twisting section made of polyurethane foam covered by a smooth flexible skin. With a ±15° range of twisting motion, XM-2 wings do not need flaps, slats or ailerons to control lift and roll generated by the UAV. Each tail stabilizer consists of a rigid leading-edge section connected to a camber-morphing corrugated trailing edge section. The tail rib design is a new version of the “FishBAC” rib with flexible carbon fiber composite ribbons running through the corrugated section to actuate the rib. The corrugated trailing edge section is 3D printed of flexible PCTPE plastic that balances between rigidity and flexibility. When compared to much-smaller traditional control surfaces, these large cambermorphing surfaces provide more power and control in a much smaller dimensional envelope. The paper presents the detailed design of all components, simulations, assembly and mechanical testing. XM-2 aims to prove that flight is possible without drag-inducing discrete control surfaces, and encourages further discovery of fully morphing UAVs.

Topics & Concepts