Drag reduction characteristics analysis of variable camber based on plane parameters of blended wing body configuration

The variable camber technology can adaptively improve the aerodynamic performance of the aircraft, so combining it with the blended wing body (BWB) configuration can further exert its aerodynamic advantages. However, the tailless BWB only uses the trailing edge flap surface for trimming, with a shorter longitudinal moment arm, resulting in a large penalty in trim drag. Therefore, the trimming of drag loss should be fully considered in the design of the variable camber at the trailing edge of BWB. Since the plane parameters would affect the trimming capability of each flap surface at the trailing edge of tailless BWB, this paper adopted the global optimization method to study the drag reduction principle and effects of the variable camber technology at the trailing edge of BWB with different sweepback angles and different wing positions. The results show that, under different lift coefficients, the trim drag loss significantly reduces the drag reduction benefits of the camber variation technology. Secondly, the planar parameters of BWB affect the shock wave intensity and trim ability, thus influencing the drag reduction benefits of the camber variation technology and the deflection angles of the control surfaces. Compared with the baseline configuration, increasing the sweep angle can increase the drag reduction benefits at small lift coefficients and decrease them at large lift coefficients. When the wing position is forward, the drag reduction benefits increase when moment trimming is not considered, but decrease when moment trimming is considered.When designing the variable camber at the trailing edge of the tailless aircraft in engineering, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the drag reduction benefits of the variable camber at the trailing edge and the deflection angle of the flap surface required for deformation.