Development and performance evaluation of a morphing wing design using shape memory polymer and composite corrugated structure

ABSTRACT

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are used in various industries due to their excellent variable stiffness behavior and innate response to external stimuli. The morphing wing is one of the technologies that employed the SMPs to reduce fuel consumption. This study proposes a novel morphing wing design using epoxy SMP as a wing skin, and a corrugated shape SMP composite (SMPC) as a wing core. The Dynamic mechanical analysis, bending and tensile tests were performed to determine the variable stiffness behavior of the skin, and the anisotropic behavior of the corrugated core. To evaluate the performance of the developed wing, the skin out-of-plane deformation is assessed, and the wing morphology is evaluated using the shape fixity and shape recovery tests. The results revealed that the skin out-of-plane deformation is within the acceptable limit for flight speed up to 0.16 Mach. Moreover, the wing shape recovery was excellent; the trailing edge of the wing is able to restore up to 99% of its bent position.

KEYWORDS:

• Shape memory polymers
• morphing wings
• SMPCs
• corrugate laminates
• structural anisotropy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.