Explained: What Digital morphing wing can it mean for future aircraft

This is important because each stage of a flight — takeoff and landing, cruising, manoeuvring etc — has its different set of optimal wing parameters. A conventional wing is a compromise that is not optimised for any of these stages, and therefore sacrifices efficiency, the researchers point out. A constantly deformable wing, however, could provide a much better approximation than a conventional wing of the best configuration for each stage.

The team has designed a system that automatically responds to changes in the wing’s aerodynamic loading conditions by shifting its shape — a sort of self-adjusting, passive wing-reconfiguration process. The wing is made deformable by incorporating a mix of stiff and flexible components in its structure. These tiny sub-assemblies are bolted together to form an open, lightweight lattice framework.

The framework is then covered with a thin layer of similar polymer material. The result is a wing that is much lighter, and thus much more energy-efficient, than those with conventional designs.

The researchers explain that the structure, comprising thousands of tiny triangles of matchstick-like struts, is composed mostly of empty space; therefore, it forms a mechanical “metamaterial” that combines the structural stiffness of a rubber-like polymer and the extreme lightness and low density of an aerogel.

(Source: Massachusetts Institute of Technology)