By exhibiting the morphing wing demonstrator at the International Industrial Fair in Brno, the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Brno University of Technology will conclude the three-year BAANG project. The collaboration with leading European universities aimed to increase the scientific excellence of Brno University of Technology through research in the field of so-called smart aviation. Thanks to partnerships with TU Delft, TU Wien, and Imperial College London, innovative concepts have been developed that can make air transport more efficient, thus saving costs and protecting the environment.

One of the project's outputs is a design for a demonstrator of a morphing wing segment utilising metamaterials. The demonstrator was designed primarily with drones in mind, but its principles can be adapted for use with other aircraft types in the future. Its shape can change during the flight according to current conditions, thereby increasing flight efficiency. The researchers were inspired by nature – birds naturally adjust the shape of their wings during flight and take advantage of their lightweight hollow skeletal structure.

"For laymen, the most interesting thing about our demonstrator will probably be learning about metamaterials and their uses. We can say that a metamaterial is an artificially created material with properties that do not normally occur in nature, obtaining its unique properties thanks to its special internal structure. In our case, we replaced several parts of the structure with a simple grid printed on a 3D printer, which made the wing lighter and simpler. The first step was, of course, a comprehensive design and optimization, which requires knowledge from several fields," describes researcher Pavel Zikmund from the Institute of Aerospace Engineering, who will be one of those presenting the demonstrator to visitors at the BUT stand at the fair.

Excellence through international cooperation

BAANG has connected researchers from Brno University of Technology with top universities, including TU Wien, which ranks among the top 200 worldwide, TU Delft, ranked 47th, and Imperial College London, currently the 2nd best university in the world according to QS Rankings. By comparison, Brno University of Technology ranks among the top 600 universities.

"The project has created excellent conditions for young scientists to advance their professional careers. They themselves confirm that their stay at leading foreign institutions was an excellent learning experience. Now it will be up to them to develop the experience they have gained and increase the excellence of the entire teams in which they work at the faculty," says Michal Kotoul from the Institute of Solid Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics, who headed the entire BAANG consortium.

Thanks to the project, six doctoral students and three young research assistants from BUT were able to complete a six-month internship at one of the partner institutions. During their stays, the young scientists gained experience in the laboratories of leading institutions and collaborated with top experts in their field. The introduction of coaching as a form of support for early-career researchers and students also contributed to the development of skills and scientific growth of young talents at the BUT.

BUT employees also adopted modern approaches to data management and research project management, and many of them established international contacts for further cooperation. The project also brought new impetus to teaching – three new courses taught in English were created at the faculty, focusing, among other things, on the metamaterials mentioned above.

Equally important was the interconnection across disciplines: experts in aviation, mechatronics, materials mechanics, additive technologies, and smart materials were involved in the research. "It is exactly the collaboration of researchers from different disciplines that creates opportunities for new ideas to solve scientific and technical problems," says Michal Kotoul about multidisciplinarity.

The BAANG project ran for three years from October 2022 and was funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program. A total of 388 projects were submitted in response to the call for proposals. Thirty-eight projects competed for funding in the Czech Republic, and nine projects were selected for financing.

More about the project at baang.eu

The project has been funded by European Union Programme Horizon Europe under grant agreement no. 101079091.