Piezoelectric Microfiber Composite Actuators for Morphing Wings

Usher, Timothy; Ulibarri, Kenneth R.; Camargo, Gilberto

doi:10.1155/2013/189659

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Therefore, such a mechanism still needs to be developed for the design to be functional. Another paper looked at utilizing MFC actuators for a flap design used on an inflatable wing [22]. The MFC is bonded to a thin substrate, just as mentioned previously, to form a unimorph configuration.…”

Section: Piezoelectric Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Experimental Studies of Flexible Trailing Edge for Variable Camber Morphing Wing

Kalaji¹

2023

Preprint

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This thesis presents a flexible trailing edge mechanism capable of undergoing a change in camber for a wing section. The mechanism takes advantage of a rigid constraint between the ends of two flexible carbon fiber panels, which produces a deflection when there is a difference in length between the two panels. A prototype was designed and built and experimental data was collected for the deformation of the panels for different values of lengths and analyzed to find a function to describe the coefficients which form the polynomials describing the shape for each of the panels, based on the difference in length value. Deflection and deflection angle results were used to develop a controller which will calculate the required change in length based on a deflection or angle and a bottom panel length input.

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Section: Piezoelectric Actuatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Experimental Studies of Flexible Trailing Edge for Variable Camber Morphing Wing

Kalaji¹

2023

Preprint

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“…Energy harvesting is a large and growing application of piezoelectric materials . Other applications include surface acoustic waves devices, spark igniters, ultrasonic motors, medical ultrasonic applications, audio speakers, buzzers, robotics and morphing aircraft wings to name but a few. The list of applications is even longer when associated phenomena, such as ferroelectricity, are considered.…”

Section: Applications and Experiments Of Traditional Ferrroelectricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The promise of piezoelectric polymers

Usher

Cousins

Zhang

et al. 2018

Polymer International

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Recent advances provide new opportunities in the field of polymer piezoelectric materials. Piezoelectric materials provide unique insights to the fundamental understanding of the solid state. In addition, piezoelectric materials have a wide range of applications, representing billions of dollars of commercial applications. However, inorganic piezoelectric materials have limitations that polymer ferroelectric materials can overcome, if certain challenges can be addressed. This mini-review is a practical summary of the current research and future directions in the investigation and application of piezoelectric materials with an emphasis on polymeric piezoelectric materials. We will assume that the reader is well versed in the subject of polymers, but not as familiar with piezoelectric materials.

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“…In a research grand funded by the North American Space Agency (NASA) and developed at California State University at San Bernardino, USA, piezoelectric microfiber composite (MFC) actuators were experimentally tested to control the surfaces of morphing wings; two different situations were experimented: a traditional flap configuration, where the MFCs have been bounded to each side of a metal substrate, and a configuration in which the MFCs have been bonded directly to the wing (13) . In a European research project, a solid-state variablecamber morphing wing controlled with piezoceramic composite actuators was developed and wind-tunnel tested for fixed-wing aircraft that operate in the low Reynolds number regime; the tests revealed the feasibility of the design and comparable lift and drag response to the baseline wing (14) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel morphing wing actuator control-based Particle Swarm Optimisation

et al. 2019

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The paper presents the design and experimental testing of the control system used in a new morphing wing application with a full-scaled portion of a real wing. The morphing actuation system uses four similar miniature brushless DC (BLDC) motors placed inside the wing, which execute a direct actuation of the flexible upper surface of the wing made from composite materials. The control system of each actuator uses three control loops (current, speed and position) characterised by five control gains. To tune the control gains, the Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) method is used. The application of the PSO method supposed the development of a MATLAB/Simulink® software model for the controlled actuator, which worked together with a software sub-routine implementing the PSO algorithm to find the best values for the five control gains that minimise the cost function. Once the best values of the control gains are established, the software model of the controlled actuator is numerically simulated in order to evaluate the quality of the obtained control system. Finally, the designed control system is experimentally validated in bench tests and wind-tunnel tests for all four miniature actuators integrated in the morphing wing experimental model. The wind-tunnel testing treats the system as a whole and includes, besides the evaluation of the controlled actuation system, the testing of the integrated morphing wing experimental model and the evaluation of the aerodynamic benefits brought by the morphing technology on this project. From this last perspective, the airflow on the morphing upper surface of the experimental model is monitored by using various techniques based on pressure data collection with Kulite pressure sensors or on infrared thermography camera visualisations.

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Piezoelectric Microfiber Composite Actuators for Morphing Wings

Cited by 17 publications

References 25 publications

Design and Experimental Studies of Flexible Trailing Edge for Variable Camber Morphing Wing

Design and Experimental Studies of Flexible Trailing Edge for Variable Camber Morphing Wing

The promise of piezoelectric polymers

Novel morphing wing actuator control-based Particle Swarm Optimisation

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