Investigation of the optimal elastic and weight properties of passive morphing skins for camber-morphing applications

摘要

The aerodynamic performance of wing structures is directly related to their external geometry. The idea of seamless shape adaptation of the wing geometry (or morphing) has emerged to provide the capability of operating optimally in a wide range of conditions. Of particular importance to realize the potential of morphing is the ability of the wing skin to conform to the different geometrical contours. Several concepts for morphing skins have been presented to address this design challenge, each presenting peculiar strengths and weaknesses depending on the chosen combination of material and structural arrangement. This paper investigates the generic structural properties of a passive morphing skin design to allow for optimal shape adaptation through cambering. The properties of the morphing skin are included among the design variables to identify their optimal value; multi-objective optimizations are used to obtain parametric results. The results indicate the need for a high anisotropy, both between membrane and bending properties and between the skin's principal directions. The impact of the skin weight on the wing design is also shown.