GVD Corporation is developing electrically-conductive wing skins for morphing aircraft. These skins make use of GVD's solvent-free conductive polymer coating technique, which imparts electrical conductivity to non-conductive polymer foam skins. There is particular Department of Defense interest in unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) that morph. Morphing UAVs can take on a broad range of different mission types (reconnaissance, attack), and can be re-tasked with new missions while still in flight. Lightweight polymer foams are attractive candidates for morphing UAV wing skins, and tend to be thermally-activated. However, rapid volumetric heating of the foams is difficult due to the foams' low thermal conductivity. GVD's conductive coatings facilitate resistive heating and activation of the foam wing skins for rapid morphing. GVD's approach to rendering wing skins conductive is simple and scalable, preserves the desired deformability of the skins, and enables efficient morphing.
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