ASM International San Fernando Valley Chapter Presents

December 2005 Meeting

Shape Morphing Structures for Aerospace Applications Presented by Sergio Lucato   One of the goals in shape morphing technology is to cause surfaces to displace even when resisted by large pressure loads (or heavy weights). The challenges become especially demanding when minimum weight requirements and power budgets are imposed. This challenge can be addressed by seeking structures that are simultaneously statically-determinate, yet stiff. Applications of such structures range from the aerospace and marine sectors to optical devices. Sensing and control circuitry facilitate a structure suitable for high-amplitude large-force vibration or displacement control. A concept for a high authority shape morphing plate is described and demonstrated. The design incorporates an active back-plane comprising a Kagome truss, capable of changing the shape of a solid face, connected to the back-plane by means of a tetrahedral truss core. One of the most important benefits of this Kagome based structure results from its ability to attain several target shapes equally well while using only one configuration of actuators. Such a system is not possible with a classical hinge-design. Two basic shapes are demonstrated in this presentation. The design is performed by a combination of analytic estimation and numerical simulation, guided by previous assessments of the Kagome configuration. Optimization procedures to guide the material selection for a given shape morphing application as well as the placement of the individual subsystems and control parameters are introduced

		Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne

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