| Posted: August 23, 2008 |
Morphing Aircraft Materials, Mechanisms and Systems |
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(Nanowerk News) Back in June we wrote a Nanowerk Spotlight on NASA nanotechnology research into shape-shifting airplanes. Now the Eurpean Science Foundation is co-organizing an advanced course on morphing aircraft: Morphing Aircraft Materials, Mechanisms and Systems will take place from November 17-20, 2008 in Lisbon, Portugal.
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Morphing vehicles are able to adapt and extend performance to carry out missions and roles through reconfiguration of shapes, constituent properties and functions. Aircraft are often expected to perform under severe theatre conditions where the military attack vehicles or even transport aircraft are deployed in conditions beyond their design configurations.
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For fixed wing aircraft, it would be necessary for the vehicle to adapt to new conditions with increased lifting area or enhance performance by deploying a new winglet configuration or switch to an alternate control system which would enable the vehicle to complete its current mission by adapting itself to the increased level of demand on its performance.
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A multi-point design adaptability to execute different missions would thus be essential features of such morphing vehicles. Smaller MAUV can be configured to cover different types of roles for a more local deployment.
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The Advanced Course is intended to provide an overview of current and emerging technologies relevant to Morphing Aircraft. Experts working on different morphing systems and technology specialists will present course material through a series of lectures, design projects, demonstrations and discussions. The needs of, and ideas for, new technologies in their respective fields will also be examined.
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