An assessment of 3D-printed span-change structures is presented for determining suitability of the technology to small unmanned aerial vehicles. Materials and manufacturing technologies were used with an emphasis on near term applicability with design trades between the aerodynamic performance and structural response. Aerodynamic performance was assessed on three wind tunnel models varying span (432, 600, and 762 mm), wind speed (Reynolds numbers 18,000, 36,000, and 71,000), additive manufacturing print build plane and camber, quantifying structural response as the resulting shape during aerodynamic loading. Each model displayed increasing compliance as span increased with wing-tip displacement on the order of 50, 100, and 200 mm with various degrees of sweep and twist. Models generated excess lift at Re = 71,000 indicating potential flight demonstration of the technology with a lift to drag improvement of up to 97% at maximum wing extension.

对3D打印的跨度变化结构进行了评估，以确定该技术对小型无人机的适用性。材料和制造技术的使用强调了空气动力学性能和结构响应之间的设计权衡的近期适用性。在以下三种风洞模型上评估了空气动力学性能：风洞模型的跨度（分别为432、600和762 mm），风速（雷诺数分别为18,000、36,000和71,000），增材制造印刷构造平面和外倾角，将结构响应量化为在气动载荷。每个模型显示出随着翼展随着翼尖位移的增加而增加的顺应性，翼展位移大约为50、100和200 mm，并具有不同程度的后掠和扭曲。模型在Re产生了额外的升力 = 71,000，表明该技术有可能在飞行中进行演示，最大机翼延伸时的升力阻力提升可达97％。