Equivalent models of corrugated laminates for morphing skins

Abstract

The design of the skins has been identified as a major issue for morphing aircraft wings. Corrugated laminates provide a good solution due to their extremely anisotropic behavior. However, the optimal design of a morphing aircraft requires simple models of the skins that may be incorporated into multi-disciplinary system models. This requires equivalent material models that retain the dependence on the geometric parameters of the corrugated skins. An analytical homogenization model, which could be used for any corrugation shape, is suggested in this paper. This method is based on a simplified geometry for a unit-cell and the stiffness properties of original sheet. This paper investigates such a modeling strategy and demonstrates its performance and potential.