Morphing Trailing Edge of Wing Utilizing Nitinol Heating and TPU Structure

The purpose of this research project was to design an airfoil section which replaced the standard hinged flap with a compliant system mechanism flap for light-weight unmanned aircraft. The output of this research was to optimize a morphing flap that could work with Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D-printing. Nitinol was used as the main source of actuation for the system. Several configurations were made for the sizing of the main hinge on the rear spar of the airfoil while there were three configurations were made for the auxetic rib structure at the trailing edge. Theoretical hinge angular deflection was found to be 7.11 degrees for the configuration chosen while the auxetic horizontal deflection was found to be 0.0005mm. The three simulations for the flexure bar, auxetic honeycomb, and hexagonal structure designs had deflection angles of 6.96, 7.59, and 8.083 degrees respectively. The final design was chosen as the hexagonal structure as it was the highest deflection angle.