Optimal Design of Compliant Trailing Edge for Shape Changing

Abstract

Adaptive wings have long used smooth morphing technique of compliant leading and trailing edge to improve their aerodynamic characteristics. This paper introduces a systematic approach to design compliant structures to carry out required shape changes under distributed pressure loads. In order to minimize the deviation of the deformed shape from the target shape, this method uses MATLAB and ANSYS to optimize the distributed compliant mechanisms by way of the ground approach and genetic algorithm (GA) to remove the elements possessive of very low stresses. In the optimization process, many factors should be considered such as airloads, input displacements, and geometric nonlinearities. Direct search method is used to locally optimize the dimension and input displacement after the GA optimization. The resultant structure could make its shape change from 0 to 9.3 degrees. The experimental data of the model confirms the feasibility of this approach.