Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Morphing Wingtip Concept with Multiple Morphing Stages at Cruise

Morphing an aircraft wingtip can provide substantial performance improvement. Most civil transport aircraft are optimized for range but for other flight conditions such as take-off and climb they are used as constraints. These constraints could potentially reduce the performance of an aircraft at cruise. By altering the shape of the wingtip, we can force the load distribution to adapt to the required flight condition to improve performance. Using a Variable Geometry Truss Mechanism (VGTM) concept to morph the wingtip of an aircraft with a Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) framework, the current work will attempt to find an optimal wing and wingtip shape to minimize fuel consumption for multiple morphing stages during cruise. This optimization routine was conducted with a Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm using different fidelity tools to analyze the aerodynamic and structural disciplines.