Shape-Morphing Aircraft Wing Technology Tested at Dryden Flight Research Center
Flexsys, Inc. is replacing the trailing edge flaps of a Gulfstream GIII business jet with 14-foot FlexFoil™ variable geometry control surfaces together with 24-inch transition sections at each end. NASA, in partnership with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, scheduled several flight tests in July 2014 at the Dryden Flight Research Center. In retrofit applications, the FlexFoil™ technology can cut fuel consumption by 4-8% and up to to 12% or more in clean-sheet builds. Other benefits of the technology include significant noise reduction (up to 40% during landing) and lowered maintenance costs due to reduced wing loads. FlexFoil™ uses conventional materials and actuators and has no moving parts in the shape-adapting mechanism.
Transcript
00:00:01 more than 100 years ago the Wright brothers designed and built the first successful airplane twisting the wings to control the aircraft soon after the inaugural flight Curtis improved the original design with the introduction of hinged flaps quickly adopted by all aircraft designers achieving seamless control services rather than hinged flaps has
00:00:24 been an elusive goal for decades today however the aerodynamic efficiency goal has been achieved flexus pioneered the compliant Design Technology enabling monolithic elastic structures to be strong flexible and seamless the Simplicity of jointless elastic structure developed by flexus enabled the creation of lightweight reliable and costeffective variable
00:00:48 geometry control surfaces using well-known Aerospace grade materials and actuators flexus has integrated their technology within existing aircraft architecture the Air Force research Labs conducted extensive testing with flexus to confirm aerodynamic efficiency and structural Integrity of the variable geometry design in July 2014 flexus in
00:01:13 partnership with the Air Force and NASA will be flight testing a Gulfstream Business Jet retrofitted with flex foil seamless control surfaces the benefits of this design the ability to twist and change the camber of the wing allow an aircraft to attain The Sweet Spot of current operating conditions in Flight including fuel Savings of 3 to 5% on a retrofit and 8 to 12% on a clean sheet
00:01:38 build along with significant noise reduction during takeoff and Landing flexus technology has many other applications such as variable geometry Leading Edge engine inlets helicopter rotor blades ships wind turbines and hydrodynamic surfaces or fluid pumps the performance of any object moving through a fluid medium can be maximized through flexus variable geometry
00:02:05 technology what can you do with this technology we invite you to consider the possibilities flexus engineered to flex