Kazuaki Katagiri, Daekwi Kim, Choong Sik Park, Sonomi Kawakita, Masato Tamayama, Koki Kayano, Shinya Honda, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Makoto Yamazaki
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2021 ASIA-PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY (APISAT 2021), VOL 1 912 879 - 891 1876-1100 2023
To achieve efficient flight by minimizing energy consumption, a morphing wing that allows large and smooth deformation similar to a wing of a migratory bird is required. Previously, the authors have developed a migratory-sized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a twist morphing wing. The twist morphing wing was manufactured using a carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) with applying the electrodeposition resin molding (ERM) method, which was developed by authors. In the ERM method, resin impregnation proceeds in a liquid by electrophoresis. Thus, manufacturing process is very efficient because neither pressurization nor evacuation are necessary. On the other hand, although the molding of the twist morphing wing is efficient, an optimal design is important for the twist morphing wing to lower the torsional rigidity to reduce the driving force of the morphing and increase the bending rigidity to support aerodynamic loads. Therefore, in this study, the spar of the twist morphing wing was designed to be arranged in a triangle. Furthermore, the twist morphing wing structures were fabricated by the ERM method, and by a 3D printer for benchmarking. So, torsion and bending deformation properties of the twist morphing wing were confirmed under the aerodynamic loading condition, and validated by finite element analysis. As a result, it was confirmed that the manufacturing efficiency of the ERM method was superior to that of the 3D printer. Additionally, the torsional rigidity of the twisted morphing wing was almost the same, regardless of the manufacturing method. Furthermore, the bending rigidity of the specimen manufactured by the ERM method was higher than that of the 3D printer.