Pressure adaptive honeycomb: A new adaptive structure for aerospace applications

A new type of adaptive structure is presented that relies on pressurized honeycomb cells that extent a significant length with respect to the plane of the hexagons. By varying the pressure inside each of the cells, the stiffness can be altered. A variable stiffness in combination with an externally applied force field results in a fully embedded...

Elements of automated aeroelastic analysis in aircraft preliminary design

Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric actuators for UAV flight control

This paper presents the use of a new class of flight control actuators employing Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric elements in morphing wing Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The new actuator relieson axial compression to amplify deflections and control forces simultaneously. Two designs employing morphingwing panels based on PBP...

Post-buckled precompressed (PBP) elements: A new class of flight control actuators enhancing high-speed autonomous VTOL MAVs

This paper describes a new class of flight control actuators using Post-Buckled Precompressed (PBP) piezoelectric elements. These actuators are designed to produce significantly higher deflection and force levels than conventional piezoelectric actuator elements. Classical laminate plate theory (CLPT) models are shown to work very well in...