Unsteady Aerodynamics of Continuously Morphing Airfoils from Transonic to Hypersonic Regimes
Abstract
Designing high-speed aircraft for wide-speed-range operation remains a major aerodynamic challenge. This study investigates the unsteady aerodynamics of a continuously morphing airfoil from transonic to hypersonic regimes. A smooth morphing trajectory is constructed among transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic baseline shapes, and analyzed via high-fidelity unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulations with a radial basis function (RBF) dynamic mesh. Two processes are examined: pure geometric morphing at fixed Mach numbers (Ma), and morphing coupled with flight acceleration. Key findings reveal two distinct adaptation features: (1) Transonic flow is highly sensitive to morphing (28.8% drop in lift-to-drag ratio), while supersonic flow is robust (
Fields of Study & Subjects
Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamics
Biomimetic flight and propulsion mechanisms
Aeroelasticity and Vibration Control
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Aerospace
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 103–103
- Publication date
- 21 January 2026
- Language
- EN