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The study herein described is aimed at investigating the feasibility of an innovative full-scale camber morphing
aileron device. In the framework of the “Adaptive Aileron” project, an international cooperation between Italy and
Canada, this goal was carried out with the integration of different morphing concepts in a wing-tip prototype. As
widely demonstrated in recent European projects such as Clean Sky JTI and SARISTU, wing trailing edge morphing
may lead to significant drag reduction (up to 6%) in off-design flight points by adapting chord-wise camber
variations in cruise to compensate A/C weight reduction following fuel consumption. Those researches focused on
the flap region as the most immediate solution to implement structural adaptations. However, there is also a growing
interest in extending morphing functionalities to the aileron region preserving its main functionality in controlling
aircraft directional stability. In fact, the external region of the wing seems to be the most effective in producing “lift
over drag” improvements by morphing. Thus, the objective of the presented research is to achieve a certain drag
reduction in off-design flight points by adapting wing shape and lift distribution following static deflections. In
perspective, the developed device could also be used as a load alleviation system to reduce gust effects, augmenting
its frequency bandwidth. In this paper, the preliminary design of the adaptive aileron is first presented, assessed on
the base of the external aerodynamic loads. The primary structure is made of 5 segmented ribs, distributed along 4
bays, each splitted into three consecutive parts, connected with spanwise stringers. The aileron shape modification is
then implemented by means of an actuation system, based on a classical quick-return mechanism, opportunely
suited for the presented application. Finite element analyses were assessed for properly sizing the load-bearing
structure and actuation systems and for characterizing their dynamic behavior. Obtained results are reported and
widely discussed.
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