Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CONTENTS
Abstract Introduction Motivation for unswept wings Motivation for swept wings Definition History Mach sweep programmer Wing plan form vs. Range/Endurance Drawbacks Current usage Future of variable sweep Conclusion References
INTRODUCTION
A wing is a surface used to produce lift for flight through the air or gas or fluid medium. The wing shape is usually an airfoil. The word originally referred only to the foremost limbs of birds, but has been extended to include the wings of insects (see insect wing), bats, pterosaurs, and aircraft. A wing's aerodynamic quality is expressed as a Lift-to-drag ratio. The lift generated by a wing at a given speed and angle of attack can be 1-2 orders of magnitude greater than the drag. This means that a significantly smaller thrust force can be applied to propel the wing through the air in order to obtain a specified lift. A common misconception is that it is the shape of the wing that is essential to generate lift by having a longer path on the top rather than the underside. This is not the case, thin flat wings can produce lift efficiently and aircraft with cambered wings can fly inverted as long as the nose of the aircraft is pointed high enough so as to present the wing at a positive angle of attack to the airflow. The common aerofoil shape of wings is due to a large number of factors many of them not at all related to aerodynamic issues, for example wings need strength and thus need to be thick enough to contain structural members. They also need room to contain items such as fuel, control mechanisms and retracted undercarriage. The primary aerodynamic input to the wings cross sectional shape is the need to keep the air flowing smoothly over the entire surface for the most efficient operation. In particular, there is a requirement to prevent the low-pressure gradient that accelerates the air down the back of the wing becoming too great and effectively sucking the air off the surface of the wing. If this happens the wing surface from that point backwards becomes substantially ineffective.The shape chosen by the designer is a compromise dependent upon the intended operational ranges of airspeed, angles of attack and wing loadings. Usually aircraft wings have devices, such as flaps, which allow the pilot to modify shape and surface area of the wing to be able to change its operating characteristics in flight.
DEFINITION
A variable-sweep wing is an aero plane wing that may be swept back and then returned to its original position during flight. Typically, a swept wing is more suitable for high speeds, while an unswept wing is suitable for lower speeds (such as while taking off or landing). A variable-sweep wing slows the pilot to select the correct wing configuration for the planes intended speed. The variable-sweep wing is most useful for those aircrafts that are expected to function at both low and high speeds. It is primarily used in military aircrafts. F-14 TOMCAT is a typical example of a variable-geometry aircraft.
The Bell X-5 was the first aircraft capable of changing the sweep of its wings in flight. It was inspired by the untested wartime P.1101 design of the German Messerschmitt company. In contrast with the German design which could only be adjusted on the ground, the Bell engineers devised a system of electric motors to adjust the sweep in flight. It was developed by the USAF and NASA in 1935. It was small in size and was designed strictly for research purposes. Unlike other X Planes, the X-5 could takeoff and land on its own and vary its wing sweep several times in flight if needed.
The X-5 had a complex design with three sweep positions: 20, 40, and 60, creating an in-flight "variable-geometry" platform. Gearboxes and jackscrews were used to change the wing sweep. A jackscrew assembly moved the wing's hinge along a set of short horizontal rails, using disc brakes to lock the wing into its in-flight positions. Moving from full extension to full sweep took less than 30 seconds. The articulation of the hinge and pivots partly compensated for the shifts in centre of gravity and centre of pressure as the wings moved.
Even so, the X-5 had vicious spin characteristics arising from the aircraft's flawed aerodynamic layout, particularly a poorly positioned tail and vertical stabilizer, which in some wing positions, could lead to an irrecoverable spin. This violent stall-spin instability eventually caused the destruction of the second aircraft and the death of its Air Force test pilot in 1953. The unfavorable spin characteristics also led to the cancellation of tentative plans by the US Air Force to modify the X-5's design into a low-cost tactical fighter for NATO and other foreign countries.
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The wing has an automatic variable-sweep from 20 to 68. The Mach-sweep programmer provides the fully automatic wing-sweep as a function of Mach number and of altitude. Thus the pilot can obtain the maximum performance/ Buffet advantages. The pilot is provided with manual, automatic and emergency sweep-control, but his minimum sweep-angle is automatically limited as a function of Mach number and of altitude. The Mach-sweep programmer provides the pilot with improved combat maneuverability since he does not have to select manually the optimum sweep at each stage of combat. Maneuver flap actuation is co-ordinate with wing sweep for maximum delay of buffet onset when wing lift is increased.
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Under equal flight conditions, the unswept wing will experience a 54% increase in range and endurance. A plan form or plan view is a vertical orthographic projection of an object on a horizontal plane, like a map. In aviation, a planform is the shape and layout of an airplane's wing and fuselage. Of all the myriad planforms used, they can typically be grouped into those used for low-speed flight, found on general aviation aircraft, and those used for high-speed flight, found on many military aircraft and airliners.
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DRAWBACKS
There were several reasons for the move away from this technology, but the primary reason was that the large metal gearbox needed to move the wings was complicated and heavy. This increased maintenance requirements and decreased fuel performance. An aircraft capable of moving its wing forward for fuel-efficient flight could never be as efficient as an airplane equipped with a straight wing. The same was true for aircraft with swept-back wings; they would always be more efficient than aircraft with swing-wings. The B-1B Lancer, for example, has never been able to achieve its original range requirements and has to refuel in the air more often than planned. It also rarely flew at the high speeds that sweeping back the wings allowed it to do. Stability problems arise due to ac shift in supersonic regime. Mechanically complex wing boxes. High cost.
Sweepback has been used primarily in the interest of minimizing transonic and supersonic wave drag. At subsonic Mach numbers, however, the disadvantages are dominant. They include high induced drag (due to small wing span or low aspect ratio), high angles of attack for maximum lift, and reduced effectiveness of trailing-edge flaps. The straight-wing airplane does not have these disadvantages. For an airplane which is designed to be multimission, for example, subsonic cruise and supersonic cruise, it would be advantageous to combine a straight wing and swept wing design. This is the logic for the variable sweep or swing-wing. Figure 2 shows (L/D)max, a measure of aerodynamic efficiency, plotted against Mach number for an optimum straight-wing and swept-wing airplane. Although not necessarily equal to the optimum configurations in their respective speed regimes, it is evident that an airplane with a swing-wing capability can in a multimissioned role, over the total speed regime, be better than the other airplanes individually. One major drawback of the swing-wing airplane is the added weight and complexity of the sweep mechanisms. But technological advances are solving these problems also.
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Figure 1
In addition to low-aspect-ratio wings at supersonic speeds, supersonic wave drag may also be minimized by employing thin wings and using area ruling. Also long, slender, cambered fuselages minimize drag and also improve the span wise lift distribution. But this turned out to be expensive.
Ultimately, aircraft designers decided that the flexibility of the variable-sweep wing was not worth the compromises it demanded.
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F-111
The General Dynamics F-111 "Aardvark" is a medium-range interdictor and tactical strike aircraft that also fills the roles of strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare in its various versions. Developed in the 1960s and first entering service in 1967, the United States Air Force (USAF) variants were officially retired by 1998. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the sole remaining operator of the F-111. The F-111 pioneered several technologies for production military aircraft including variable-sweep wings, afterburning turbofan engines, and automated terrain following radar for low-level, high-speed flight. Its design was influential, being reflected in later Soviet aircraft such as the Sukhoi Su-24, and some of its advanced features have since become commonplace. During its inception, however, the F-111 suffered a variety of development problems, and several of its intended roles, such as naval interception, failed to materialize.
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MIG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (Russian: -23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a swing-wing fighter aircraft, designed by the MikoyanGurevich bureau in the Soviet Union. It is considered to belong to the Soviet "Third Generation" aircraft category along with similar-aged Russian-produced fighters like the MiG-25 "Foxbat". It was the first Soviet fighter with look-down/shoot-down radar and beyond visual range missiles, and the first MiG production fighter plane to have intakes at the sides of the fuselage. Production started in 1970 and reached large numbers with over 5,000 aircraft built. Today the MiG-23 remains in limited service with various export customers
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MIG-27
The Mikoyan MiG-27 (Russian: -27) (NATO reporting name "Flogger-D/J") is a ground-attack aircraft, originally built by the Mikoyan design bureau in the Soviet Union and later license-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as the Bahadur ("Valiant"). It is based on the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 fighter aircraft, but optimized for the air-to-ground role. However unlike the MiG-23, the MiG-27 did not see widespread use outside Russia, as most countries opted for the MiG-23BN and Sukhoi Su-25 instead. It currently remains only in service with the Indian and Sri Lankan Air Forces in the ground attack role. All Russian and Ukrainian examples have now been retired.
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B-1 Lancer Bell X-5 Sukhoi Su-17 Sukhoi Su-24 Dassault Mirage G NASA AD-1 Northrop Grumman Switchblade Northrop Switchblade Tupolev Tu-160 Tupolev Tu-22M EF-111A Raven Panavia Tornado Panavia Tornado ADV XF10F Jaguar General Dynamics F-111 General Dynamics/Grumman F-111B
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The term micro air vehicle (MAV) or micro aerial vehicle refers to a type of unmanned air vehicle (UAV) that is remotely controlled. Today's MAVs are significantly smaller than those previously developed, with target dimensions reaching a maximum of approximately 15 centimeters (six inches). Development of insect-size aircraft is reportedly expected in the near future. Potential military use is one of the driving factors of development, although MAVs are also being used commercially and in scientific, police and mapping applications. Another promising area is remote observation of hazardous environments that are inaccessible to ground vehicles. Because these aircraft are often in the same size range as radio-controlled models, they are increasingly within the reach of amateurs, who are making their own MAVs for aerial robotics contests and aerial photography. Deployed into unsafe or toxic conditions for humans. Launched from a tube. High speed flight to designated area.
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CONCLUSION
This would be yet another technology that can be used on aircrafts and has got its own set of advantages and disadvantages. It cannot be taken as a replacement to the usual non variable winged aircrafts as for now but the designers are trying to develop a much more efficient design for such aircrafts. It holds a promising future.
Other similar technologies include the variable incidence wings, variable
camber wings etc.A variable-sweep wing was also selected as the winning design used by Boeings entry in the FAA's study for a supersonic transport, the 2707. However it evolved through several configurations during the design stage, finally adding a canard and it eventually became clear that the design would be so heavy that it would be lacking sufficient payload for the fuel needed. The design was later abandoned in favour of a more conventional tailed delta wing. While variable-sweep provides many advantages, particularly in takeoff distance, load-carrying ability, and the fast, low-level penetration role, variable-sweep wing impose a considerable penalty in weight and complexity. The advent of relaxed stability flight control systems in the 1970s negated many of the disadvantages of a fixed platform. No new variable-sweep wing aircraft have been built since the Tu-160, though it has been noted that the F-14's replacement - the F/A-18E - has a reduced payload/range capability largely because of its small fixed wings.
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REFERENCES
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