Wind Tunnel Testing a Passive Aircraft Spoiler

What is it about?

Aircraft wings must be designed to carry stresses caused by the `worst case scenario', which is often extreme turbulent loading. However, such events are very rare, so wings become effectively over-designed (i.e. heavier than necessary) for most situations, which leads to additional fuel burn. In this work, we experimentally validate a passive spoiler concept. This spoiler can deploy into the flow around a wing in response to a high turbulence event, manipulating the flow and ultimately reducing stresses in the primary wing structure. Uniquely, this spoiler is fully passive, in that it requires no external sensors or actuators to function. Instead, it deploys purely in response to strain in the underlying wing. In this way, the wing structure becomes `self-alleviating', in that the structure itself is capable of detecting and mitigating high load events.

Featured Image

Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

Photo by Ross Parmly on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Aviation accounts for around 2.5% of global C02 emissions, and the sector continues to grow whilst remaining almost exclusively reliant on fossil fuels. As such, technologies which can reduce fuel burn are crucial to mitigate the impact of the industry, and to increase the economic viability of any future sustainably powered aircraft. Gust load alleviation technologies are one passible way of achieving this, however active systems add weight and complexity to an airframe. The passive spoiler experimentally validated in this work offers the benefits of a gust load alleviation system without the drawbacks of active components.