Research On Actuation System Of A Variable-thickness Wing

Morphing aircraft is a new type of aircraft structure which is developed in recent years.According to the changes of external environment and flight mission, Morphing aircraft can changeits shape in order to maintain the optimal flight status and meet the large range of flight missionrequirements. Shape memory alloy (SMA) is one of the best choices for morphing wing drive becauseof its good driving performance, high energy density, simple actuation structure, low actuation voltage,environment adaptability etc.The researches on the SMA-based morphing wing’s actuation system with variable sectionalthickness were made in this paper. Firstly, performance test was conducted on the SMA wire todetermine its stable working range. Based on the test, the actuation structure was designed with themodel built in the CATIA software, which was then processed to physical one. Then, the PXI-basedmeasuring and controlling system, including the hardware design and LABVIEW software design,was designed to carry out experimental researches on the actuation structure. The measurement andcontrol experimental results show that the actuation structure can achieve the maximum displacementdesign requirement of8mm. The actuation system can realize the displacement control, and has highcontrol accuracy.