Aerodynamic performance of electro-active acrylic membrane wings

Barbu, A., De Kat, R. and Ganapathisubramani, B. (2018) Aerodynamic performance of electro-active acrylic membrane wings. AIAA Journal, 56 (11), 4243-4260. (doi:10.2514/1.J056241).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Electro-active materials offer, due to their multivariate compliant nature, a great potential for integrating the lift-producing system and the control system into one. This work presents the first step in describing the aerodynamic performance of such materials and focuses on understanding the nature of such materials in aerodynamic applications. Load measurements are conducted in a wind tunnel for acrylic-based membranes supported in a perimeter-reinforced frame at different prestrains to determine which prestrain offers the widest range of controllability. Furthermore, photogrammetry and load measurements are conducted at zero prestrain for no-voltage and constant-voltage conditions. The resulting data show that, from a controllability standpoint as well as from a lift and aerodynamic performance standpoint, lower prestrains are more favorable. The resulting data also show that, at zero prestrain, the membrane damps most fluid-membrane interaction instabilities resulting in low-level membrane vibrations.

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