Aerodynamic-driven morphing aircraft and its overall design

Fixed-wing long-endurance aircraft play an important role in many fields. However, to reduce drag, these aircraft often have an enormous aspect ratio and wingspan, leading to challenges such as high requirements for takeoff and landing sites and poor wind resistance. Morphing may be able to solve this problem, but conventional morphing aircraft often employ complex actuation mechanisms and actuators to drive the morphing process. The associated costs in terms of structural weight increase and space occupancy are prohibitively high. First, this article develops a high-aspect-ratio aircraft with aerodynamic-driven morphing and validates the rationality and feasibility of this concept through flight tests. Then, focusing on the RQ-4 “Global Hawk” as the design baseline, the article explores multidisciplinary overall design methods for the aircraft, analyzing the comprehensive impact of morphing on aerodynamic, structural, and flight control design. Finally, the article elaborates on the benefits and costs associated with aerodynamic-driven morphing.