Development of a morphing wing extrados made of composite materials and actuated by shape memory alloys

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.