Aerodynamic Proof-of-Concept for a Dual-Regime Pressurized Morphing Wing Across Subsonic, Transonic, and Supersonic Regimes

Numerical Analysis of Pneumatic Supercritical-to-Biconvex Geometric Transitions for Wave Drag Mitigation and Efficiency Envelope Optimization

Abstract

Modern high-speed aircraft face an enduring aerodynamic trade-off: subsonic and transonic regimes require thick, cambered supercritical airfoils for high lift and shock-wave delay, whereas supersonic flight demands thin, symmetric biconvex profiles to minimize severe wave drag. Traditional mechanical variable-geometry systems attempt to solve this, but introduce excessive structural weight, complexity, and mechanical failure risks. To eliminate this compromise, this study presents a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) proof-of-concept evaluating a novel dual-regime pneumatic morphing wing operating across flight regimes from Mach 0.15 to Mach 2.5. The hybrid structural architecture combines an internal rigid, load-bearing biconvex core with a flexible outer elastomeric composite skin. Nitrogen pressurization of internal pneumatic chambers expands the skin into a rounded supercritical profile optimized for high lift slope and transonic shock-wave delay (Mach 0.15–1.2). Gas evacuation causes the skin to collapse flush against the core, exposing a razor-thin biconvex shape tailored to minimize wave drag in supersonic flight (Mach 1.5–2.5). To establish baseline aerodynamic feasibility without dynamic mesh fluid-structure interaction (FSI) overhead, 43 static rigid-mesh simulation cases representing the discrete boundary states were evaluated using OpenFOAM (rhoSimpleFoam and rhoCentralFoam). Force and moment evaluations demonstrate a peak efficiency of L/D max > 30 at Mach 0.4, a severe efficiency reduction through the transonic dip zone (Mach 0.8–1.2), and a recovery to L/D max ≈ 9.3 at Mach 2.5 under the collapsed biconvex profile. These static numerical results confirm baseline aerodynamic proof-of-concept, establishing the theoretical framework prior to experimental laboratory wind-tunnel testing of the physical pneumatic prototype.