Design of a Morphing Structure by AeroElastic Actuator

A morphing structure is a controllable structure that can retain its efficiency in different situations by altering its geometry or mechanical properties. This property makes morphing structures suitable for use in surfaces which are in contact with the fluid flow like airfoils and hydrofoils in aircraft, wind turbine and etc. Actuator, Matrix and Skin are the three main components of common morphing structures. Each one of them is effective in structure efficiency. In this paper, a morphing structure designed that consists of a metal skin, Aero-elastic actuator, and polymer matrix. Actuators are a set of embedded channels in the polymer that make skin deformed. It’s possible to reach the desired form in the skin by moderate the actuators such as their place, shape, or number of active channels. The effect of various geometrical parameters on the actuator’s deformation is studied. In this study, the parameters are limited based on the strength considerations.

Keywords:

Morphing structure , Actuator , Viscoelastic