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Thin-Walled Structures 46 (2008) 689701 www.elsevier.com/locate/tws

Concepts for morphing airfoil sections using bi-stable laminated composite structures
Cezar G. Diaconu, Paul M. Weaver, Filippo Mattioni
Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK Received 13 July 2007; received in revised form 19 October 2007; accepted 15 November 2007 Available online 31 December 2007

Abstract The present paper investigates the potential of using bi-stable laminated composite structures for morphing an airfoil section. The objective of the paper is to identify geometries and lay-ups of candidate congurations that offer multiple stable shapes for the airfoil section. Carbon-ber laminated composites with non-symmetric laminate congurations are used for morphing the airfoil section. Thermal curing is used to induce residual stresses into the structure in order to achieve bi-stability. Three concepts that focus on morphing a ap-like structure and the camber and chord of an airfoil section are proposed. Several geometries and laminate congurations are investigated using nite element nonlinear static analysis. The magnitude of loads required to actuate the airfoil section between the stable shapes is evaluated. The impact of manufacturability on producing viable morphing mechanisms within the airfoil section is also discussed. r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Morphing compliant structures; Bi-stable laminated composites; Residual thermal stresses; Nonlinear nite element analysis; Large displacements; Unsymmetric laminates

1. Introduction Morphing structures are structures that change shape or state in order to change their operating characteristics or as a response to changes in the environment conditions. Bistable or multi-stable structures are good candidates to be used as morphing structures because of their ability to remain in natural equilibrium after a shape change occurs [1]. One can actuate such structures from one stable shape to another using devices such as piezoceramic [1,2] or shape memory alloy [3,4] actuators. Although multi-stability can be achieved with traditional isotropic materials [5], for morphing aerospace structures, ber-reinforced laminated composites seem to be better suited because of their superior mechanical properties. Moreover, these laminated composites allow one to design their mechanical properties for a particular application by tailoring their laminate conguration. A non-symmetrically laminated composite plate can take multiple cylindCorresponding author. Tel.: +44 117 928 7698; fax: +44 117 92 72771.

E-mail address: Paul.Weaver@bristol.ac.uk (P.M. Weaver). 0263-8231/$ - see front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.tws.2007.11.002

rical shapes when cooled from an elevated temperature to the room temperature. This structure can snap-through from one cylindrical shape to another by applying moments along opposite edges of the laminate. Hyer [6] showed that the bi-stability phenomenon is a coupling between the residual stresses induced by cooling and the geometric nonlinearities given by the large out-of-plane deections that appear within the structure. It is noted that, for materials studied, bi-stability may be lost for temperatures greater than, say 80 1C, and that bi-stability is enhanced for colder temperatures. Thus, the study suggests that such bi-stable structures can be used in real morphing airfoils applications, where, for typical ight conditions, temperatures may range from approximately 60 to 40 1C. Various theoretical and experimental studies were carried out in order to understand and predict the behavior of the bi-stable composite structures [711]. Most predictive models are based on using RayleighRitz minimization of the total potential energy in conjunction with polynomial approximations of the displacements or of the mid-plane strains. These models can only be used for simple geometries such as square or rectangular plates with

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free boundary conditions at edges but have the advantage that allow parametric studies to be carried out for design purposes [1214]. Finite element analysis (FEA) is better suited for predicting behavior of bi-stable or multi-stable structures with more complex geometric congurations and boundary conditions. Due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of the snap-through phenomenon in bi-stable or multi-stable structures, the nite element code have to be carefully coaxed in order to predict behavior for each particular concept. This makes the FEA computationally expensive and time consuming [8]. Most of the studies carried out on bi-stable composites focused on structures with residual stresses induced by temperature. However, it is known that the moisture or chemical shrinkage can be as important as the temperature for inducing residual stresses into the structure [2,15]. Since the working environment for such structures is not always controllable, some multi-stable structures were developed to be virtually free from temperature or moisture changes [16]. In these composite structures the residual stresses are introduced by pre-stretching the ber-reinforced laminates during manufacturing process. Bi-stable and multi-stable structures are currently used for deployable space structure applications [1721]. A morphing concept [1] was proposed based on bi-stable composites actuated by devices such as piezoceramic or shape memory alloy actuators. Also, bi-stable plates have been proposed as a high-lift device concept for UAV application and variable geometry airfoil where the bi-stability of unsymmetric patches is used to drive the shape change of a trailing edge mounted device [22]. However, so far, no practical application of this concept was reported in literature for morphing aeronautic structures such as wings or rotor blades. The present paper studies the opportunity of using bistable laminated composite structures for morphing an airfoil section of typical aeronautic structures such as a wing, helicopter rotor blade, xed wing propeller or wind turbine blade. The objective of the paper is to identify geometry and lay-up of candidate congurations that offer multi-stability for an airfoil trailing edge. Three morphing concepts are proposed. The aim is to assess their viability in an integrated airfoil in future work. The rst concept focuses on morphing the trailing edge of the airfoil section. The top and bottom surfaces of the airfoil toward the trailing edge are made of laminated composites with non-symmetric laminate congurations in order to create a ap-like structure with multiple stable shapes. The second concept consists of a bi-stable composite plate inserted into the airfoil section in horizontal position along the chord of the airfoil. The leading edge of the bistable composite plate is clamped at its center to a vertical spar. On the other side, the trailing edge of the plate is hinged to a vertical web, which is also hinged to the airfoil surfaces in order to allow relative movement of the skins during actuation. By actuating the bi-stable plate, the camber of the airfoil section is morphed between two different stable shapes.

The third concept consists of a bi-stable composite plate, which is inserted into the airfoil section in a vertical position along its main spar. The bi-stable composite plate is connected to the spar. The airfoil section is composed of two separate parts: the leading part is connected to the main spar while the trailing part is connected to the bistable composite plate. The top and bottom surface of the trailing part are allowed to slide inside the leading part of the airfoil. By actuating the bi-stable composite plate, the chord length or the airfoil section can be changed. For the three concepts, various geometries and laminate congurations are investigated using nonlinear static FEA. The analysis is carried out using a multi-step approach in order to induce residual stresses in the bi-stable laminated composite structures and to analyze the behavior of the airfoil section. The magnitude and distribution of loads required for actuating the airfoil section between the stable shapes is evaluated. The impact of manufacturability on producing viable morphing mechanisms within the airfoil section is also discussed. 2. Thermally induced bi-stable structures Structures with multiple stable shapes can be obtained by using laminated composites subjected to thermal loads. Due to the difference between the thermal expansion coefcients in the principal directions, the thermal loads generate directional deformations in unidirectional single layers. For structures made with non-symmetric laminate congurations, these deformations create thermally induced residual stresses that generate large out-of-plane displacements. To analyze these large displacements and to take into account the multiple stable shapes one can consider the geometric nonlinear terms within the strains displacements relationship using von Karman plate theory  2 q2 w0 qu0 1 qw0 q2 w 0 x 0 z z , x qx 2 qx 2 qx qx2  2 q2 w0 qv0 1 qw0 q2 w0 0 y y z 2 z 2 , qy qy 2 qy qy  0  2 0 0 0 qw 1 qu qv qw qw0 q2 w0 , xy 0 z z xy qx qy 2 qy qx qx qy qxqy 1 where index 0 refers to the reference middle plane of the 0 0 laminate, ex, ey, exy are the total strains, 0 x ; y ; xy are the membrane strains, and u, v, w are the displacements in x, y, z directions. In Eq. (1) one can identify the geometric nonlinear terms 1=2qw0 =qx2 , 1=2qw0 =qx2 and 1=2qw0 =qx qw0 =qy that appear in the denition of the membrane strains. The multiple stable shapes, which appear when the structure is subjected to thermal loads, can be determined by minimizing the total potential energy of the structure dened as  Z  1 T T P  Q   Q a DT dV , (2) V 2

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where V is the structural volume,  is the strains vector, Q is the stiffness matrix, a represents the coefcients of thermal expansion and DT is the gradient of the thermal loads. When the total potential energy of the structure is minimized by an analytic or numeric technique, multiple local minima can be obtained. These local minima are obtained by setting the rst variation of the potential energy with respect to eld variables to be zero. It is also necessary to impose a stability condition for these local minima by setting the second variation of the potential energy to be positive. Each of the stable local minima for the total potential energy corresponds to a stable shape for the displacement eld of the structure. Based on this approach, many analytic solutions were proposed for analyzing the bi-stable shapes of simple rectangular plates. However, for complex structures it is necessary to employ complex nonlinear FEA in order to determine the bi-stable or multi-stable shapes and to study the snap-through from one stable shape to another. 3. Airfoil model and FEA In the present paper, as a sample structure for analysis, we chose a NACA 23012 airfoil [23] with two stiffening spars as shown in Fig. 1 and with a chord of 680 mm. This structure was selected because it exhibits similar characteristics to existing rotor blades used in practice. Typically, morphing such a structure requires modication of its airfoil camber and/or chord in order to change its aerodynamic characteristics. In this study, it is assumed that the region of the airfoil between the frontal spar and the leading edge supports the main bending and torsion loads that appear on the structure during ight conditions. Since in practice this region is usually made very stiff, in the FEA model it is considered rigid and clamped. Thus, during analysis, attention focuses on morphing the trailing edge or the region behind the spar. In these regions the aerodynamic pressure that appears on the structure is ignored in the present analysis. However, in practice the morphing structure should be designed not to be activated by ambient aerodynamic loading. As the structure to be morphed is relatively exible, considering such aerody-

namic pressure on it would require a detailed aeroelastic analysis which is beyond the objective of this study. The material used for the structure is a graphite/epoxy laminated composite with the following properties for a unidirectional lamina: E 11 130 GPa; E 22 10 GPa; u12 0:3, 3 G12 G13 4:4 GPa; a11 1:8 108 ; G 23 3:2 GPa,

a22 3 105 ,

where E11 and E22 are the Youngs moduli in longitudinal and transverse directions of the lamina while G12, G13 and G23 are the shear moduli. The a11 and a22 are the coefcients of thermal expansion in longitudinal and transverse directions of the lamina. The thickness of each lamina is 0.125 mm. For this material, which has a manufacturing temperature of 180 1C, bi-stability appears for temperatures lower than a critical temperature, say 80 1C depending on the geometry of the structure, and is enhanced for colder temperatures. Since for typical ight conditions, temperatures may range from approximately 60 to 40 1C, it is expected that the thermally induced bistability for a morphing aero-structure will vary during service. In this study we consider thermal gradients of 180 and 135 1C which correspond to service temperatures of 0 and 45 1C, respectively. Due to the complex nature of the geometry, FEA is employed using ABAQUS nite element code [24]. The elements selected for analysis are S4R doubly curved shell elements with 4-nodes per element and reduced integration. Various meshes are used depending on the proposed morphing concept. The meshes are chosen in order to have a good compromise between precision and computing time of the analysis. The analysis is carried out using a ve steps approach: 1. In the rst step residual stresses are introduced by curing the bi-stable structure from an elevated temperature to room temperature. At the end of this step the structure will take one stable shape that is different from the initial manufacturing shape due to the induced residual stresses. 2. Actuation loads are applied on the structure in the second step in order to make it snap-through from one stable shape to another. 3. The loads are removed in the third step in order to ensure that the new shape of the structure is stable. 4. In the fourth step the actuation loads are applied in the opposite direction in order to make the structure snapthrough and return to the rst stable shape. 5. In a similar manner with the third step, during the fth step the actuation loads are removed to ensure that the new shape is stable. During preliminary studies, three types of nonlinear FEA were evaluated: Riks analysis, explicit dynamic analysis and static general analysis. Riks analysis has proven to be relatively unreliable because of its high dependence on the

Fig. 1. NACA 23012 airfoil.

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laminate conguration which required a cumbersome ne tuning for each step in order to reach truly stable results. Explicit dynamic analysis did not show reliable results because the damping coefcients for the laminated composite material are unknown. Finding such damping coefcients by a trial and error method proved to be time consuming and is beyond the purposes of this study. Static general analysis has proven to be the most robust and reliable analysis for the problem. Thus, static general analysis is used for further studies because of its robustness and reliability. 4. Morphing concept for adaptive trailing edge This concept focuses on morphing the trailing edge of the airfoil section using a ap-like structure with bi-stable shapes. To emulate a typical ap geometry, the structure should rotate with an angle of 101 between the stable states around an axis which is at 15% of the chord from the trailing edge. The bi-stability is thermally induced by curing the whole structure with a gradient of DT 135 1C between the elevated or manufacturing temperature and the room or service temperature. The region between the rear spar and the trailing edge is modied in such way that the bottom and upper surfaces are at during manufacturing rather than slightly curved as is the case of a typical NACA airfoil. This modication simplies the manufacturing and also the analysis. The region between the leading edge to the rear spar is considered clamped during analysis. Thus attention can focus on the rear area of the airfoil section, dened as a trailing edge box with the dimensions shown in Fig. 2. In this gure the width of the airfoil section is chosen to be 15% of the chord, that is W 102 mm, and the rear spar is positioned at 30% of the chord from the trailing edge, that is 204 mm. At the rear spar, the distances between the bottom and top surfaces and the plane containing the trailing edge normal to the rear spar are given by the NACA 23012 airfoil [23]. Fig. 3 shows a more detailed model of the trailing edge box that focuses on regions with various laminate congurations and on load distribution. As shown in the gure, both the top and bottom surfaces are divided into two regions with equal areas halfway between the rear spar

Fig. 3. Model of trailing edge box.

Table 1 Laminate congurations Conguration 1 2

a

Web [90/0]S [45/452/45]AS

Stable regions [90/0]S [45/452/45]AS

Bi-stable regions [904/04]T [904/7454]Ta

The ber distribution of this laminate conguration is shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 2. Dimensions of trailing edge box.

and the trailing edge. The stable regions are located near the rear spar and have symmetric laminate congurations, which are inherently stable. The stable regions should be exible enough in order to allow the bi-stability phenomena to occur into the bi-stable regions. The bi-stable regions are located near the trailing edge and have laminate congurations that are inherently bi-stable and induce bistability phenomenon into the trailing edge box. A vertical web located in the middle of the stable regions connects the bottom and top surfaces from the rear spar to the borders of the bi-stable regions. The web is made of the same material as the top and bottom surfaces, is stable, and its role is to limit the displacement required to trigger the snap-through from one stable shape to the other. At the location of the rear spar, the web, the top and the bottom surfaces are considered clamped. Actuation loads are concentrated loads in vertical direction applied in the middle of the trailing edge on the top and bottom surfaces which are connected to which other by a rubber connector. The rubber connector allows a relative displacement of 6 mm between the two connecting points which is necessary in order to allow bi-stability phenomena to occur into the structure. During analysis, on the second step the actuation load is applied only on the top surface while on the fourth step the actuation load is applied only on the bottom surface. The magnitude of the actuation loads has to be sufciently large in order to trigger the snap-through from one stable shape to another. Various laminate congurations were analyzed. Many of these laminate congurations did not induce bi-stability into the structure. The laminate congurations proposed as candidates are given in Table 1. In this table, the subscripts S and AS stand for laminate congurations which are symmetric and, respectively, anti-symmetric with respect to the middle plane of the laminate while the subscript T stands for total through thickness laminate congurations.

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Fig. 4. Conguration [904/7454]T.

Also, the bottom layer angle is the rst angle shown in the laminate conguration expressions. In Table 1, one proposed conguration, that is Conguration 1, is a combination of symmetric cross-ply laminates for the web and the stable region, and non-symmetric cross-ply laminates for the bi-stable regions. The other proposed conguration, that is Conguration 2, is a combination of anti-symmetric angle-ply laminates for the web and the stable regions, and non-symmetric laminates made of +451, 451 and 901 angles as shown in Fig. 4 for the bi-stable regions. Parametric studies for various widths of the airfoil section were carried out in order to evaluate and compare shape changes and predicted loads and to evaluate the potential of the proposed candidate topologies and laminate congurations. For the parametric studies, the values for the width of the airfoil section vary between 91.8 and 306 mm. Figs. 5 and 6 show the relationship between the concentrated actuation loads applied to make the structure snap-through and the vertical displacement at the location where the loads are applied for the width of the airfoil section taking values of W=102, 204 and 306 mm. The continuous lines show the relationship between loads and displacements for the top skin while the dashed lines show the relationship between loads and displacements for the bottom skin. When the actuation loads are zero, one can identify the vertical displacements for the two stable shapes from the initial manufacturing position. For convenience, we dene the rst and the second stable shapes as having negative and, respectively, positive values for the vertical displacements. One can understand the snap-through phenomena between the two stable shapes by following the lines in clockwise direction. The actuation loads are acting in a positive direction to make the structure snap-through from the rst to the second stable shape and in negative direction for opposite actuation. The snap-through loads can be identied as the loads for which large displacements occur. In the gures, these large displacements appear as the regions where the lines are horizontal. In the gures, it can be seen that the curves relating loads to displacements are different depending on the width of the airfoil section and on the laminate conguration. Also, the loads required to actuate the structure are different depending on the width value, the laminate conguration

Fig. 5. Load displacement relationship for Conguration 1: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

and on the direction of the actuation. However, a certain pattern can be observed for the two laminate congurations. Thus, the required load to actuate the structure from rst stable shape to the second stable shape has a larger absolute value than the required load for actuation in opposite direction. Also, the actuation load is higher for the rst stable shape than for the second stable shape. This suggests that rst shape is more stable, that is, it has less strain energy than the second shape.

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Fig. 7. Actuation loads for given airfoil section widths.

Fig. 8. Lateral view of rst stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 1: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

Fig. 6. Load displacement relationship for Conguration 2: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

When the two laminate congurations are compared, it can be observed from the gures that the actuation loads are larger for Conguration 1 than for Conguration 2. This suggests that, for Conguration 1, the structure is more bi-stable, that is, the strain energy required to actuate the structure is larger than that required for Conguration 2. Fig. 7 shows the relationship between the width of the airfoil section and the actuation loads. The actuation loads are shown with continuous lines for Conguration 1 and

dashed lines for Conguration 2. It can be observed that for both Congurations 1 and 2 the actuation loads have maximum absolute values for the width W 306 mm in the positive direction and for width W 204 mm in the negative direction. From this gure, a good compromise for design seem to be obtained for width W 204 because large actuation loads are obtained on positive and negative direction for a rather small relative difference between them. Regarding the shape changes for the trailing edge box, Figs. 815 show the stable shapes for Congurations 1 and 2 for the parametric studies regarding changes in the width W of the airfoil section. Lateral and also isometric views are shown in the gures. For reference purposes, in the lateral view, the stable shapes are shown together with the initial manufacturing shape. Moreover, for the sake of similarity with traditional apping structures we dene the

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Fig. 10. Lateral view of second stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 1: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

Fig. 9. Isometric view of rst stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 1: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

ap angle a as the angle between the chord and the line connecting the trailing edge with the point where the chord meet the vertical web as shown in Fig. 8a. For Conguration 1, in Figs. 8 and 9, it can be seen that the rst stable shape is almost identical for all the widths and makes a ap angle of around 91 with the initial

manufacturing shape. Moreover, it can be observed that for the rst stable shape the trailing edge of the airfoil section is straight. On the other hand, for the second stable shape shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the trailing edge is curved depending on the width of the airfoil section. Thus, the displacements of the trailing edge are much larger on the sides of the section than in the middle. Also, in the middle of the airfoil section, the ap angle between the initial manufacturing shape and the second stable shape varies depending on the airfoil section width between 0.31 for W=91.8 mm, and 3.81 for W=306 mm. For Conguration 2, in Figs. 13 and 15, the curvature of the trailing edge is in the opposite direction when compared with Conguration 1. Also, the curvature is mostly localized in the middle of the trailing edge. Moreover, this curvature can be observed for both stable shapes. However, the ap angle between the initial manufacturing shape and the rst stable shape takes values between around 7.91 for W=102 mm, and 6.81 for W=306 mm. On the other hand, for Conguration 2, in Figs. 14 and 15 it can be observed that the curvature along the trailing edge for the second stable shape is almost zero and more pronounced curvatures are observed along the separation line between the stable and bi-stable regions. Also, in the middle of the airfoil section, the ap angle between the initial manufacturing shape and the second stable shape varies depending on the airfoil section width between around 1.51 for W=102 mm, and 4.31 for W=306 mm. 5. Morphing concepts for adaptive airfoil section For morphing the airfoil section, attention was paid on changing the camber of the airfoil section and on changing

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Fig. 12. Lateral view of rst stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 2: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

Fig. 11. Isometric view of second stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 1: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

the length of its chord. For the concepts described below, the residual stresses in the bi-stable structure were introduced by a thermal gradient DT=180 1C in order to increase the actuation loads supported by the structure. 5.1. Camber change for airfoil section The camber change for the airfoil section is realized by inserting a square bi-stable composite plate with the inplane dimensions 234 234 mm into the airfoil section in horizontal position along its chord as shown in Fig. 16. The width of the airfoil section is W 234 mm in order to match the dimensions of the square bi-stable plate. The

leading edge of the bi-stable composite plate is clamped at its center to the spar of the airfoil section. In the FEA model, this clamped condition is modeled using a weld connector. On the other side, the trailing edge of the plate is hinged to a vertical web, which is also hinged to the airfoil surfaces in order to allow relative movement of the skins during actuation. The top skin is allowed to slide over the bottom skin during actuation. In the FEA model, the structure is considered clamped ahead the spar because this region is usually lled with foam and very rigid. For the rst 32 mm behind the spar, the bottom skin is also clamped in order to ensure a proper second stable shape for the airfoil section. The selection of the laminate conguration for the given structure should be compliant in order to ensure bistability and also stiff in order to support the aerodynamic loads. Also, orthotropic laminate congurations were chosen in order to ensure that twisting of the airfoil section due to anisotropy is eliminated. Thus, for the skins above and below the bi-stable plate, that is the region between the spar and the web, an anti-symmetric angle-ply conguration with only eight layers, that is [45/452/45]AS, is used to ensure exibility for the structure. For all of the other parts of the structure, these are the spar, the web, and the skins ahead spar and behind web, an antisymmetric conguration with 16 layers, that is [45/452/ 45/90/02/90]AS, is used to ensure high stiffness. For the bistable plate, three non-symmetric cross-ply laminate congurations, [904/04]T, [906/06]T, and [908/08]T, were chosen in order to sustain high loads while keeping the large displacements of the plate within a desirable range. By actuating the bi-stable plate, the airfoil section is morphed between two different stable shapes. The two

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Fig. 14. Lateral view of second stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 2: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

Fig. 13. Isometric view of rst stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 2: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

stable shapes are shown in Fig. 17 for the [08/908]T laminate conguration of the bi-stable plate. The rst and second stable shapes are superposed for comparison purposes. The rst stable shape is the original airfoil with the bi-stable plate inserted along the chord. For the second stable shapes, it can be observed that the top and bottom skins bend above and below the bi-stable plate. The top skin also

slides over the bottom skin along the trailing edge. Moreover, the web behind the bi-stable plate is slightly moved from its original vertical position. Similar stable shapes are obtained for the other laminate congurations. In the model, the loads used for actuating the structure between the stable shapes are two concentrated loads applied vertically on the two leading corners of the bistable plate near the spar. Fig. 18 shows the relationship between the actuation loads and the vertical displacements for the two corners of the bi-stable plate obtained from the FEA for each of the three laminate congurations. In the gure, the continuous line with diamonds corresponds to eight layer [04/904]T, the dashed line corresponds to 12 layers [06/906]T, and the continuous line corresponds to 16 layers [08/908]T laminate conguration. In the gure, the snap-through between the two stable shapes can be identied in the form of almost horizontal regions for the three curves. In these regions, for a very small increase in the magnitude of the actuation loads can be observed a large increase in the magnitude of displacements of the corners of the plate. It can be seen that the plate snaps between the stable states for loads and strokes that depend on the laminate conguration of the plate. Thus, for the laminate congurations [04/904]T, [06/906]T and [08/908]T, the actuation loads necessary to snap-through the plate from the rst stable shape to the second stable shape are approximately 16.7, 30 and 42.2 N, respectively. Also for these laminate congurations, the strokes or vertical displacements required to trigger the snap-trough are approximately 27, 20 and 14 mm, respectively. The plate snaps back into the rst stable state for actuation loads and strokes that also depend on its laminate conguration. Thus, for the laminate congurations [04/904]T, [06/906]T and [08/908]T, the snap-through actuation loads are approximately

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Fig. 17. Lateral view of the stable shapes for camber change of airfoil section.

Fig. 18. Loads relationship with displacements at actuation points.

Fig. 19. Actuation loads relationship with trailing edge displacements.

Fig. 15. Isometric view of second stable shape for trailing edge box with Conguration 2: (a) W 102 mm; (b) W 204 mm; and (c) W 306 mm.

Fig. 16. Assembly for camber change.

3.2, 17.4 and 35.6 N, respectively, and the strokes or vertical displacements required to trigger the snap-trough are approximately 4.5, 9 and 10 mm, respectively. These actuation loads have smaller absolute values than the actuation loads in opposite direction due to the fact that the plate is already loaded with stresses resulting from the deformation of the rest of the structure. Fig. 19 shows the relationship between actuation load on one of the leading corners of the bi-stable plate and the vertical displacement of the trailing edge for each of the three laminate congurations. As in the previous gure, the continuous line with diamonds corresponds to eight layers [04/904]T, the dashed line corresponds to 12 layers [06/906]T, and the continuous line corresponds to 16 layer [08/908]T laminate conguration. Once again, the snap-through is

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Fig. 20. Assembly for chord length change.

accompanied by a change of slope for the three curves and a large increase of the trailing edge vertical displacement. It can be seen that the change of slope occurs for the actuation loads identied in Fig. 19. In Fig. 20, the curves corresponding to the bi-stable plates with 12 and 16 layers, these are [06/906]T and [08/908]T, respectively, are rather close to each other which suggest similar behavior for the two congurations. However, there are large differences between these curves and the curve corresponding to the bistable plate with eight layers, that is [04/904]T. For the second stable state, when the actuation loads are zero, the trailing edge displacements corresponding to bi-stable plates with [04/904]T, [06/906]T and [08/908]T laminate congurations are 46.15, 68.7 and 67.8 mm, respectively. 5.2. Chord length change for airfoil section The chord length change for the airfoil section is realized by inserting a rectangular bi-stable plate into the airfoil section in vertical position along its main spar as shown in Fig. 20. The bi-stable plate has the length L 300 mm, the width W 70 mm and is connected at its corners to the spar. During actuation between the two stable states the corners of the plate are allowed to slide horizontally along the spar. The airfoil section is composed of two separate parts: the leading part is xed to the main spar while the trailing part is xed to the center of the bi-stable plate. The top and bottom surface of the trailing part are allowed to slide along the chord inside the leading part of the airfoil. Two cross-ply non-symmetric laminate congurations with four and, respectively, six layers were considered for the bi-stable plate. These are [02/902]T and, respectively [03/903]T. These laminate congurations were chosen to ensure that bi-stability occurs for the plate which has a width of only 70 mm. The conguration of the remaining structure is less important for this analysis since, in this model, no other parts of the structure contribute elastically to its bi-stability. By applying an actuating transverse load at the center of the bi-stable composite plate, the chord length or the airfoil can be changed between two stable shapes. Fig. 21 shows the relationship between the actuation load and the displacement of center of the bi-stable plate for the two laminate congurations. For the four layer [02/902]T laminate conguration, the relationship is shown with a

Fig. 21. Loads relationship with displacements at actuation point.

continuous line while for the six layer [03/903]T laminate conguration, the relationship is shown with a dashed line. The displacements at the center of the plate are considered zero when the structure is in its rst stable shape and no loads are applied. When the load is applied toward the trailing edge, the displacement increases little until a load of approximately 10 N for the four layer [02/902]T laminate conguration, and 8 N for the six layer [03/903]T laminate conguration. For greater load values, the displacements increases with the loads are much larger because the plate begins to snap-through toward the second stable state. In the FEA model a maximum load of 12 N was applied. In Fig. 21 it can be seen that when the load is removed, the plate continues to snap-through based on its residual stresses and stabilizes into the second stable shape for a maximum displacement of approximately 107.5 mm for the four layer [02/902]T laminate conguration, and 87.5 mm for the six layer [03/903]T laminate conguration. When the load is applied in the opposite direction, the displacement reduces drastically due to the low bending stiffness of the plate. In the case of the four layer [02/902]T laminate conguration, when the load reaches its minimum of 12 N most of the plate has buckled locally and is already in the rst stable state apart from the localized boundary layers at the longitudinal sides of the plate. When the load is removed, the plate continues to snap-through and stabilizes itself into the rst stable state, which is the initial position at 0 mm, due to the larger residual stresses at the center of the plate than at the boundary layers. In the case of the six layer [03/903]T laminate conguration, when the load reaches its minimum of 12 N the plate had snapped completely. In this case, when the load is removed, the plate stabilizes itself into the rst stable state, which is the initial position at 0 mm. The two stable shapes of the structure are shown for the four layer [02/902]T laminate conguration in Fig. 22 from a lateral view and in Fig. 23 from an isometric perspective. Similar stable shapes but with a smaller relative distance between their trailing edges are achieved for the six layer [03/903]T laminate conguration. In Fig. 22b the second

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6. Summary and discussion Three morphing concepts for an airfoil section were investigated. These concepts take advantage of the bistability phenomenon that is induced through thermal residual stresses in thin walled laminated composite structures. The results show the performances and the limitations of these bi-stable composite structures when the bi-stability is induced by residual stresses due to thermal curing. Using this approach, the displacements necessary for many practical applications are achievable. However, these composite structures are highly compliant and the loads requested by most of the practical applications might not be achievable solely by the composite structures and additional locking mechanisms might be required. Also, since the residual stresses are induced by thermal curing, the performance of these structures is highly affected by environmental factors such as temperature and moisture. Considering temperature effects rst, the bi-stability is enhanced for cold conditions (due to large temperature change from the gelling temperature) whilst for hot temperatures it is possible that the structures bi-stable characteristics will diminish and in the extreme, may disappear. Note that moisture absorption effects also counter the effect of colder conditions and diminish the effects of bi-stability. Nevertheless, the concepts proposed in this study can be also applied to bi-stable structures which are virtually free from temperature or moisture changes. In such bi-stable structures, the residual stresses are introduced by pre-stretching the ber-reinforced laminates during manufacturing and not by thermal curing [16]. For morphing the bi-stable ap-like structure, two stable shapes, which are aerodynamically optimal, can be achieved with difculty because of the limitations given by the laminate congurations required to retain bistability. Also, the aerodynamic loads that can be supported by the bi-stable ap-like structure might be smaller than the requirements for typical aerodynamic structures met in practice. In this case an internal structure might be required to sustain the aerodynamic loads. Nevertheless the locking mechanism offered by the bistable skins will reduce the requirements for a very stiff and inherently very heavy internal structure. The morphing concept regarding the camber change for the airfoil section seems to be the most suitable if optimized aerodynamic airfoil shapes are desired because the morphing mechanism, that is the bi-stable plate, is separated from the aerodynamic surfaces. Various parameters such as geometry or laminate congurations can be changed in order to achieve the desired aerodynamic airfoils. However, an optimization for optimal shape and for aeroelastic tailoring of the airfoil section can be difcult because of the nonlinear structural analysis required. Also, as for the previous concept, the aerodynamic loads that can be supported by the structure might be smaller than the requirements for typical aerodynamic structures met in

Fig. 22. Lateral shape view for chord length change: (a) rst stable shape and (b) second stable shape.

Fig. 23. Isometric shape view for chord length change: (a) rst stable shape and (b) second stable shape.

stable shape is plotted over the rst stable shape for comparison purposes. One can see the gain in chord length and, respectively, the aerodynamic surface that can be achieved with this morphing concept. Also, in Fig. 23b it can be observed that, in the second stable shape, the bistable plate has a new role, that is, the bi-stable plate acts as an internal stiffener for the airfoil section because half of its bers are perpendicular to the chord and in the direction of the aerodynamic forces transverse to the airfoil. Thus, this morphing concept can offer an advantage over other existing solutions for increasing the chord of the airfoil because of the dual functionality of the bi-stable plate that acts as an actuator and also as a stiffener.

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practice. In this case, again, an internal structure will be required. If chord length change is required for the airfoil section, the concept proposed in this study may be advantageous because the bi-stable plate is positioned transversely to the chord and can support aerodynamic loads transverse to the skin. Thus, the bi-stable plate has a dual role and acts both as an actuator and also as a stiffener. However, this concept is regarded to be aerodynamically less efcient than changing the camber of the airfoil. From a manufacturing point of view, the concept of the bi-stable ap-like structure at the trailing edge seems to be the simplest and the easiest to build. By contrast, the other two concepts, that morph the camber of the airfoil section, are assemblies of various pieces that are in relative movement with each other. At a closer look, however, for these two morphing concepts, the bi-stable plate has a simple rectangular shape and can be manufactured separately from the rest of the structure. This aspect can become an advantage if the residual stresses in the bi-stable plate will be introduced during manufacturing by prestretching the laminae rather than by thermal curing. These three concepts show sufcient merit that the next stage of design can be addressed and that is how the morphing function can be realized and how it compromises structural integrity, aerodynamic efciency and dynamic stability. Obviously, the morphing function is expected to increase overall aerodynamic performance. The morphing function realized herein is done without mechanisms but does rely on compliant components. Although structural properties such as bending stiffness will not be compromised signicantly, torsional stiffness locally may be and needs to be further examined in more detail. The concepts that rely on sliding skins do transmit aerodynamic loads effectively but their overall structural integrity requires further assessment. Many potential actuation devices can be incorporated such as shape piezoelectric devices [2], shape memory alloys [4], and electrical drives [25]. The integration of the power supply and actuator will affect local dynamic performance so that attention must be paid to local center of gravity, mass and stiffness distributions. All these issues are to be addressed in further work. References
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