An active structure of a morphing wing designed for subsonic cruise flight conditions is composed of three principal subsystems: (1) flexible extrados, (2) rigid intrados, and (3) an actuator group located inside the wing box. The four-ply laminated composite flexible extrados is powered by two individually controlled shape memory alloy (SMA) actuators. Fulfilling the requirements imposed by the morphing wing application to the force-displacement characteristics of the actuators, a novel design methodology to determine the geometry of the SMA active elements and their adequate assembly conditions is presented. This methodology uses the results of the constrained recovery testing of the selected SMA. Using a prototype of the morphing laminar wing powered by SMA actuators, the design approach proposed in this study is experimentally validated.

Issue Section:
Research Papers
Keywords:
actuators, aerodynamics, aerospace components, aerospace control, design engineering, flexible structures, laminar flow, laminates, shape memory effects, subsonic flow, morphing wing, flexible extrados, SMA actuators, Ti–Ni shape memory alloys, design
Topics:
Actuators, Design, Wings, Stress
1.
Butero
,
F.
, 2008, “
Shape Memory Actuators for Automotive Applications
,”
Advanced Materials and Processes
, ASM International,
166
(
3
), pp.
37
–
40
.
2.
Furuya
,
Y.
, and
Shimada
,
H.
, 1991, “
Shape Memory Actuators for Robotic Applications
,”
Mater. Des.
0264-1275,
12
(
1
), pp.
21
–
28
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
3.
Mavroidis
,
C.
,
Pfeiffer
,
C.
, and
Mosley
,
M.
, 1999, “
Conventional Actuators, Shape Memory Alloys and Electrorheological Fluids
,”
Automation, Miniature Robotics and Sensors for Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation
,
Y.
Bar-Cohen
, ed.,
American Society for Non-Destructive Testing Inc. (ASNT)
, pp.
189
–
214
.
4.
Seelecke
,
S.
, and
Müller
,
I.
, 2004, “
Shape Memory Alloy Actuators in Smart Structures: Modeling and Simulation
,”
Appl. Mech. Rev.
0003-6900,
57
(
1
), pp.
23
–
46
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
5.
Elwaleed
,
A. K.
,
Mohamed
,
N. A.
,
Nor
,
M. J. M.
, and
Mustafa
,
M. M.
, 2007, “
A New Concept of a Linear Smart Actuator
,”
Sens. Actuators, A
0924-4247,
135
(
1
), pp.
244
–
249
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
6.
Campanile
,
L. F.
,
Seack
,
O.
, and
Sachau
,
D.
, 2000, “
Belt-Rib Concept for Variable-Camber Airfoils: Recent Developments
,”
Proceedings of the Conference on Smart Structures and Integrated Systems
, Newport Beach, Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE),
3985
, pp.
110
–
120
.
7.
Campanile
,
L. F.
, and
Keimer
,
R.
, 2003, “
A Shape-Memory Actuator for Surface Geometry Control
,”
Proceedings of the International Conference on Martensitic Transformation (ICOMAT’02)
, Espoo, Finland, EDP Sciences,
112
(
2
), pp.
1189
–
1192
.
8.
Coutu
,
D.
,
Brailovski
,
V.
,
Terriault
,
P.
, and
Fischer
,
C.
, 2007, “
Experimental Validation of the 3D Numerical Model for an Adaptive Laminar Wing With Flexible Extrados
,”
Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of Adaptive Structures and Technologies (ICAST ’2007)
, Ottawa, Canada.
9.
Eggleston
,
B.
,
Poole
,
R. J. D.
,
Jones
,
D. J.
, and
Khalid
,
M.
, 1987, “
Thick Supercritical Airfoils With Low Drag and Natural Laminar Flow
,”
J. Aircr.
0021-8669,
24
(
6
), pp.
405
–
411
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
10.
Coutu
,
D.
,
Brailovski
,
V.
, and
Terriault
,
P.
, 2009, “
Promising Benefit of an Active-Extrados Morphing Laminar Wing
,”
J. Aircr.
0021-8669,
46
(
2
), pp.
730
–
731
.
Crossref
Search ADS
 
11.
Brailovski
,
V.
,
Terriault
,
P.
,
Coutu
,
D.
,
Georges
,
T.
,
Morellon
,
E.
,
Fischer
,
C.
, and
Bérubé
,
S.
, 2008, “
Morphing Laminar Wing With Flexible Extrados Powered by Shape Memory Alloy Actuators
,”
Proceedings of the ASME Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures, and Intelligent Systems (SMASIS 2008)
, Ellicott City, MD, Paper No. 377.
12.
Georges
,
T.
,
Brailovski
,
V.
,
Coutu
,
D.
, and
Terriault
,
P.
, 2007, “
Design Diagram for Linear SMA Actuators Integrated in a Morphing Wing Structure
,”
Proceedings of the International Conference on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST ’2007)
, Tsukuba, Japan, ASM International, pp.
455
–
462
.
Copyright © 2009
 by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
You do not currently have access to this content.