Development of a morphing wing extrados made of composite materials and actuated by shape memory alloys
Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
Published online on November 03, 2016
Abstract
This article focuses on the development of a shape morphing composite skin representing a wing extrados. The objective is to design and manufacture a skin capable of changing its geometry in order to improve its aerodynamic efficiency. One geometry is considered to be the nominal geometry and a deformed geometry is identified. It is obtained upon application of a displacement at the aftmost boundary of the active portion of the wing profile. The displacement is imposed on the skin by shape memory alloy wires. These actuators are combined with a self-locking transmission mechanism that maintains the deformed geometry without any further energy consumption. The lay-up of the composite skin is optimised such that the deformed profile approaches the desired geometry as closely as possible. This lay-up selection routine is done through an ANSYS Parametric Design Language sub-routine. The finite element model is validated experimentally by conducting mechanical testing on the composite skin.