Aircraft wing, aircraft wing composite material, and method of manufacture thereof

• US 20060145031A1
• Filed: 12/12/2005
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Original Assignee: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
• Inventors: Ishikawa, Takashi, Iwahori, Yutaka, Takeda, Shin-ichi, Yokozeki, Tomohiro
• Granted Patent: US 7,802,759 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/219
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 3/48 by relatively-movable parts of wing structures

Abstract

To provide an aircraft wing which has both high bending flexibility in the wing chord direction and high capacity to maintain the wing shape in the wing span direction, and to which morphing aircraft technology can be applied in the high-speed regime where aerodynamic forces are high. The wing is formed by arranging a plurality of CFRP rods having maximum anisotropic stiffness in the axial direction, so as to be parallel to the wing span direction, and filling the gaps between the CFRP rods with an elastic material.

Claims

1. An aircraft wing, comprising:

a plurality of axially long objects made from a reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy, and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with the long axis; and

an elastic material filling the gaps between said plurality of axially long objects, wherein the long axis is parallel to or substantially parallel to the span direction of the wing.

2. The aircraft wing according to claim 1, wherein said reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

3. The aircraft wing according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of axially long objects is bound sequentially and continuously in the form of a blind by binding means.

4. The aircraft wing according to claim 1 or 3, wherein said plurality of axially long objects is oriented in a multilayer form, and the layers are bound together by binding means.

5. The aircraft wing according to claim 3, wherein said plurality of axially long objects and said binding means form an interlocking three-dimensional woven fabric.

6. An aircraft wing, comprising:

a wing inner plate formed in a corrugated shape made from a first reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy, and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness is perpendicular to or substantially perpendicular to the corrugation direction; and

a wing outer plate made from a second reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with that of said wing inner plate, wherein the corrugation of said wing inner plate is oriented so as to be parallel to or substantially parallel to the wing chord direction.

7. The aircraft wing according to claim 6, wherein the concave portion of said wing inner plate is filled with an elastic material.

8. The aircraft wing according to claim 6, wherein at least one of said first reinforcing material or said second reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

9. The aircraft wing according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein reinforcing members made from a third reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with that of said wing inner plate, are provided in the concave portions of said wing inner plate.

10. The aircraft wing according to claim 9, wherein said third reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

11. An aircraft wing composite material, comprising:

a plurality of axially long objects made from a reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy, and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with the long axis; and

an elastic material filling the gaps between said plurality of axially long objects.

12. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 11, wherein said reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

13. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 11, wherein said plurality of axially long objects is bound sequentially and continuously in the form of a blind by binding means.

14. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 11 or 13, wherein said plurality of axially long objects is oriented in a multilayer form, and the layers are bound together by binding means.

15. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 13, wherein said plurality of axially long objects and said binding means form an interlocking three-dimensional woven fabric.

16. An aircraft wing composite material, comprising:

an inner plate formed in a corrugated shape made from a first reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy, and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness is perpendicular to or substantially perpendicular to the corrugation direction; and

an outer plate made from a second reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with that of said inner plate.

17. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 16, wherein the concave portion of said inner plate is filled with an elastic material.

18. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 16, wherein at least one of said first reinforcing material or said second reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

19. The aircraft wing composite material according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein reinforced members made from a third reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy and formed so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with that of said inner plate, are provided in the concave portions of said inner plate.

20. The aircraft wing composite material according to claim 19, wherein said third reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

21. A method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material, comprising the steps of:

forming a plurality of axially long objects from a reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy, so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with the long axis;

arranging said plurality of axially long objects so as to be mutually parallel; and

filling the gap between adjacent said axially long objects with an elastic material.

22. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 21, wherein said reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

23. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 21, comprising the step of binding with tightness the plurality of axially long objects sequentially and continuously in the form of a blind by binding means.

24. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 21 or 23, comprising the steps of arranging the plurality of axially long objects mutually parallel in a multilayer form, and binding with tightness the adjacent layers by binding means.

25. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 23, comprising the steps of arranging said plurality of axially long objects mutually parallel and forming an interlocking three-dimensional woven fabric by binding together with said binding means.

26. A method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material, comprising the steps of:

forming a corrugated plate by molding a first reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy in a corrugated shape, so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness is perpendicular to or substantially perpendicular to the corrugation direction;

forming a plane plate by molding a second reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy in a planar shape; and

joining said corrugated plate to said plane plate so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness of said corrugated plate coincides with that of said plane plate.

27. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 26, comprising the steps of filling the concave portions of said corrugated plate with an elastic material.

28. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 26, wherein at least one of said first reinforcing material or said second reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.

29. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to any one of claims 26 to 28, comprising the steps of:

forming a reinforced member from a third reinforcing material having at least one direction of anisotropy so that the direction of maximum anisotropic stiffness coincides with that of said corrugated plate; and

providing said reinforced member in the concave portion of said corrugated plate.

30. The method of manufacturing an aircraft wing composite material according to claim 29, wherein said third reinforcing material is a fiber-reinforced material.