Morphing Aileron

More severe regulations are growing worldwide due to increasing air traffic in order to reduce fuel consumption and noise. The achievement of challenging targets in terms of pollutant emissions abatement demands for the development of innovative aircraft technologies. Morphing is one of them and plays an extraordinary role for the improvement of aircraft performance. Many research projects are currently focused on morphing both in US and Europe. Among these, the CRIAQ-MDO505 constitute the first trans-European cooperation project on smart technologies. Its aim is to investigate morphing structures potential through the design and manufacturing of a full-scale variable camber aileron designed according to the requirements of a regional aircraft. This project was carried out by Italian and Canadian academies, research centers, and leading industries. In this framework, the authors worked on the development of this technology addressing both numerical and experimental activities up to a thorough validation of a physical prototype. The effective capabilities of the adaptive prototype were proven by means of wind tunnel and ground test campaigns which successfully demonstrated the feasibility and the reliability of a morphing aileron.