Morphing aircraft based on smart materials and structures

Abstract

A traditional aircraft is optimized for only one or two flight conditions, not for the entire
flight envelope. In contrast, the wings of a bird can be reshaped to provide optimal
performance at all flight condition. Any change in an aircraft configuration, in particular the
wings, affects the aerodynamic performance, and optimal configuration can be obtained for
each flight condition. Morphing technologies offer aerodynamic benefits for an aircraft over
wide range of flight conditions. The advantages of a morphing aircraft are based on an
assumption that the additional weight of the morphing components is acceptable. Traditional
mechanical and hydraulic systems are not considered good choices for morphing aircraft.
“smart” materials and structures have the advantages of high energy density, ease of control,
variable stiffness, and the ability to tolerate large amount of strain. These characteristics offer
researchers and designers new possibilities for designing morphing aircraft are reviewed.
Specifically, four categories of applications are discussed: actuators, sensors, controllers and
structures.

Introduction

The kite, which might be considered the earliest type of aircraft, was invented by the Chinese
2000 years ago. These kites were made from easily obtained natural materials: silk fabrics or
paper for the wings, fine high-tensile-strength silk for the tether, and bamboo for a strong,
lightweight airframe. The first rocket was developed in the 13th century in china using black
powder as the propellant. The rocket was the forerunner of the jet engine. The wright brothers
completed the first flight of a powered, manned aircraft on 17 December 1903. The 274 kg
aircraft had two 12.3m wings and was powered by an 8.9 KW, 82 kg engine. The Wright
Flyer stimulated the rapid development of aircraft in the 20th century.

To improve aerodynamic performance, the use of bionics in aircraft design is being

considered. Swifts control their glide performance by changing the geometry of their wings;
for example, they adjust their wing sweep to suit the speed. Jackdaws and other birds
maneuver in flight by changing the geometry of their wings and tail. It follows that morphing
wings can play a very important role in aircraft design.

A number of aircraft with morphing wings have been designed and produced since World
War II, including the X5, the F-111, the XB-70, the SU-17, the MIG-23, the SU-24, the TU-
22M, the F-14, the B-1, the Tornado and the TU-160. The most famous example is the
Grumman F-14 tomcat. The wing structure was made of titanium, including the wing box, the
wing pivots, and the wing skins. The F-14’s wing sweep could be varied between 20 and 68
in flight to obtain the optimum lift-to-drag ratio for the Mach number. This aircraft was
retired by US Navy on 22 September 2006. The main reasons given for the F-14s retirement
were the high number of maintenance hours and the high cost resulting from the heavy and
complex sweep wing structure.
To overcome the problems with traditional materials and structures, novel materials are
required. Smart materials and structures, which offer self-actuating, self-sensing, self-healing,
self-assembly, and self-adaptive capabilities have great potential for application in morphing
aircraft. A variety of morphing technologies based on smart materials and structures will be
required to enable an aircraft to perform in-flight configuration changes for optimum
performance.

Smart material and structures

It is difficult to define smart materials. Unlike static or dead materials, smart materials are
alive: they can respond to change in the environment. Therefore, smart materials are not only
structural material but also active materials. Sources of stimulation include stress, strain,
electricity, magnetism, heat, light, and microwaves radiation. Currently, piezoelectric,
magnetostrictive and ferroelectric materials, optical fibers, electrorheological and
magnetorheological fluids, shape memory alloys, shape memory polymers, electro-active
polymers, and multifunctional nano-composites can be considered smart materials. Smart
structures include auxetic honeycomb, variable-stiffness tubes, multi-stable structure and
corrugated structures. In general, smart materials and structures comprise a smart system. To
draw an analogy to humans. smart materials and structures can obtain information from the
environment around the skin, they then produce an internal chemical or physical effect
delivered to the brain for decision making, and finally, they implement action through the
muscles. The information passed through the nerves and each part is linked by tendons and
fibrous bands.

Smart materials and structures have one or more of the three main features as follows;

1. Self-actuating – the system produces an output such as force, displacement, heat and
light after being stimulated.
2. Self-sensing – in response to change in the environment, the system can generate or
magnetic signals or undergo strain that can be measured to describe the environment.
3. Self-adaptive-the system can change its geometry to adapt to the environment.

Table 1 presents the properties and the means of stimulation for various common smart
materials. Generally smart materials have a high energy density. According to the
requirement of a particular application designers can select the best material.

Morphing aircraft

The basic principle of an aircraft can be described as follows: gravity is overcome by the lift
generated by the flow of air over the aircraft’s wings, and the lift depends on the wing shape
and size and the velocity of the aircraft. Drag can be balanced by thrust. In one sense, for a
given airplane fuselage, or body, the aerodynamic performance depends on the wing
configuration. For a given thrust and airspeed, there will be an optimal wing configuration for
each mission.

The degree of morphing on a wing can be classified as large, medium or small, depending on
the dimension that varies. Folding wings, variable-sweep wings, variable-span wings and
deployable wings comprise the large category. Twisting wings, flexible winglets, variable-
chord wings and variable chamber wings comprise the medium category. Variable-airfoil
wings and bulging wings comprise the small category. Aircraft with morphing technologies
have some advantages over fixed geometry aircraft, and these advantages are listed in table 2.
A multi-mission aircraft can be designed for good performance in multiple fight conditions.
For example, a fighter with variable sweep or folding wings can have good performance at
both high speed and low speeds, which can reduce fuel consumption and improve the flight
envelope dramatically. Aircraft with variable-chord or variable camber wings can have
shorter take-off distances. Variable-span wings, flexible winglets and twisting wings can
improve the aerodynamic performance of low speed aircraft.

Different levels of morphing require diverse types of materials and structures to meet its
various demands. Some of the earliest research on smart materials and structures for
morphing aircraft mainly focused on medium morphing, such as the research conducted by
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In that research, a helicopter rotor blade trialing-
edge flap was actuated by piezoelectric materials to control the aerodynamics force. In the
1990s, several types of smart materials and structures were investigated, including
piezoelectric materials, electro-strictive materials, magnetostrictive materials, shape memory
alloys and fiber optic sensors. Several studies have focused on morphing rotor structures
using piezoelectric materials, shape memory alloys and magnetostrictive materials.
Piezoelectric actuators were used in morphing airfoil wings and in the control fins of a
missile. Since the late 1990s, a large number of investigations on smart materials and
structures for morphing aircraft have been conducted, and interest in the subject has been
global. Several studies have involved unmanned aerial vehicles and several mature morphing
technologies for helicopter rotor blades and jet engines have already been flight tested with
full scale test articles. In the next four sections, application of smart materials and structures
in morphing aircraft will be described in detail.

Actuators

Shape Memory alloys

A shape memory alloy (SMA) is a metallic alloy such as NiTi, NiTiCu and CuAlNi that can
recover from a deformation and return to its original shape when subjected to heat which is
known as shape memory effect. There is four transition points knows as the martensitic start
and finish temperatures. Through a training cycle, an SMA acquires a stabilized strain that
can be recovered when the temperature is higher than Ms. SMA has the property of super-
elasticity, which means it could work even under high applied loads and large inelastic
deformation, or undergo large strains without plastic deformation or failure. SMAs are very
desirable for actuators because of properties such as high output forces, large recoverable
strains, high energy densities, controllability, and the capability for one-way and two-way
memory effects. SMAs are already widely used in aerospace morphing structures.

The most well-known application of SMAs is in an engine nozzle on a boing commercial

airplane to reduce jet noise. A large amount of theoretical work and simulations were
performed by Texas A&M university and the Boeing company. In August 2005, full-scale
flight tests of variable-geometry chevrons, which were actuated using an SMA and installed
on a 700-300ER with GE-115B engines, were completed; photographs of the chevrons are
shown in fig 3. The results indicated that noise in cruise was significantly reduced. The
chevrons improve the mixing of the freestream air and the fan stream. Other uses of SMA
actuators in jet engines including a morphing nozzle have also been investigated. The
morphing inlet internal wall was tested in a wing tunnel.

SMA actuators can be used to alter the wing geometry as well. A variable-sweep wing
controlled by SMA ribbons on the spar has been investigated. In several other studies, SMA
wire was used to create a morphing trailing edge to enhance lift. Several segmented morphing
trailing-edge concepts, which produce a larger trailing-edge angle, have been investigated. A
similar approach can be used in the leading edge to increase the lift-to-drag ratio. Conrell
University designed a Hyper-Elliptic Cambered Span (HECS) wing using SMA actuators.
This morphing wingtip can markedly improve maneuverability by enhancing yaw control
while in the furled state. Groups of SMA actuators have been used to create a morphing-
airfoil wing for subsonic cruise flight conditions, and wind tunnel tests showed reductions in
drag from 14.5% to 26.7% with an average value of 18.5% under quasi-constant lift
conditions. SMA torque tube actuators have been used to provide near-optimum blade twist
for helicopters in both hover and cruise flight conditions. SMA actuator have also been used
in bionic flapping wings. An artificial beetle hind wing produced a flapping motion a 9 HZ
with a 120 flapping angle using cyclic heating with two SMA wires.

Piezoelectric materials

A crystal with piezoelectric properties was discovered by the curie brothers in 1880. A
maximum of 0.1% strain can be obtained by applying a voltage to a piezo-electric material.
Layers of these crystals can be stacked to form a piezoelectric stack actuator. Piezoelectric
fibers can be mixed with resin to produce larger strain and various types of motion. These
composites are generally referred to as active fiber composites (AFC), macro fiber composite
(MFC), or light-weight piezo-composite actuator (LIPCA).

Piezoelectric ceramics. Because piezoelectric ceramics are capable of producing large output
forces and high frequency responses, they have been used to drive hydraulic pumps. The
principle of operation is as follows. A chamber with an inlet and outlet is linked to a
hydraulic actuator moves a metal one-way valve. The piezoelectric ceramic actuator meatal
membrane to change the volume of the chamber cyclically according to a periodic voltage.
Because of the pressure differential, the liquid flows from the inlet to the outlet. These pumps
have achieved maximum flow rates of 2300 cc/min and output pressure exceeding 200 bar in
the stalled condition. A piezoelectric hydraulic pump was successfully used in a morphing
wing on a remotely piloted vehicle.

Piezoelectric ceramics have also been used in linear actuators in helicopter rotor systems to
improve vibration, noise and aerodynamic performance. An important technological
advancement would be to increase the output of piezoelectric ceramic actuators. Several
different types of piezoelectric actuators such as the o type and the L-L type and the X type
have been designed and tested. O-type actuators were used to drive trailing edge flaps
installed on MD900 rotor blades in whirl tower tests conducted by the Boeing company. X-
type actuators were successfully used in a BK117 S7045 prototype aircraft in Europe, as
shown in fig 4. The results showed that the vibrations were reduced as much as 90%when the
active-flap rotor was installed.

Several researchers have designed piezoelectric actuators based on a “step and repeat”
driving strategy which means actuators produce displacement pulse by insistently repeated
motions to generate larger linear displacements and large output forces to control the
configuration of a morphing structure rapidly and accurately.

Piezoelectric composites. Piezoelectric composites have been used to reduce vibration and
noise from helicopter rotors. At the German Aerospace Center, piezoelectric composite was
integrated into rotor blades to control blade twist. Rotor blades trailing-edge flaps with
piezoelectric composites actuators can achieve similar performance.

In several studies, the camber of the wings of a micro air vehicle (MAV) was altered using
piezoelectric composites to change the lift, the drag and the pitching moment or to control the
roll ad pitch by morphing the trailing edge near the wingtips. An MAV in which the elevators
were controlled by piezoelectric composites was constructed have been used to produce a
flapping wing that takes advantage of the high bandwidth of piezoelectric materials. In
another study, the composites were installed in a flexible flap-ping wing to change the
chamber and increase the lift as much as 20.8% at 8HX flapping frequency, 20 pitch angles
and 10 m/s flow velocity.

Shape Memory Polymers

A shape memory polymer (SMP) is a type of polymer that like an SMA, exhibits the shape
memory effect. SMPs are capable of significant macroscopic recovery after receiving an
external stimulus. During this process the material transitions between a glassy state, that is,
hard with a high Young’s modulus, and an elastic state, that is, soft with a low Young’s
modulus, so there is a distinct change in stiffness. Because of their low recovery forces,
SMPs are frequently used as actuators in deployable space structures, that is, in a weightless
environment. However, SMPs have great potential for applications requiring a morphing skin
because of their variable stiffness. SMP morphing skins can withstand aerodynamic loads in
the glassy state and tolerate large deformations in the elastic state and thus, they can
accommodate morphing structures.

SMP composites have been fabricated by mixing carbon fibers, glass fibers, or elastic fibers
with an SMP resin, which enhances the mechanical performance of the SMP. Morphing skins
based on SMP composites have been designed and tested in telescoping wings, variable-
camber wings, sweep wings, deployable wings and folding wing. Gif 6 shows the deployment
of a wing with a morphing skin. The SMP composite skin alters its shape when heated and
maintains a smooth and seamless wing surface.

Electro-Active Polymers
An electro-active polymer (EAP) can be stimulated by electricity to produce a significant
change in shape or size, where the strain can be as high as 300%. EAP materials include
dielectric elastomers (DE), ionic polymers-metal composites (IPMCs), polyvinylidene
fluoride (PVDF), and other similar materials. As an actuator, EAPs have many advantages
including low weight, low power consumption, a fast response and flexibility. Only a 2.5-4 V
sinusoidal signal was flapping wing for the MAV to become airborne. EAPs have also been
used in actuators for the trailing edge of a fixed-wing UAV to increase the lift. A small
lighter-than-air vehicle whose rudders and elevators are controlled by EAP actuators in
shown in fig 7. The 3.5-m-long proto-type vehicle was tested successfully in 2006 and in
2007 and demonstrated satisfactory control performance.

Magnetostriction

Magnetostriction is a property of certain materials in which the material undergoes a change

in dimension or shape when subjected to a magnetic field. Terfenol-D is a typical
magnetostrictive material that undergoes a large induced strain in a low-intensity magnetic
field at room temperature. A linear step actuator based on Terfenol-D was demonstrated to
have a very good performance: a maximum force of 410N, a range of motion of 45mm, a
maximum speed of 60mm/min, and 95 W of power. In comparison with conventional
piezoelectric actuators, it could generate much higher actuation strains. It has higher actuation
stresses in comparison with solenoid and moving-coil transducers. Magnetostrictive materials
have been used to drive hydraulic pumps. The principle is similar to that of the piezoelectric
pump. A maximum pressure of greater than 1700lbf/in2 was produced, and the output power
reached 180W. A design for a variable-span morphing wing UAV is shown in fig 8.

At present, smart materials are mainly used as actuators. Comparing with conventional
electromotor, smart material have the properties of higher power density, more output force,
higher output frequency, or other features. The designers could choose them according to
application conditions. However, it should be noted that there are still some shortcomings of
smart materials. First, for SMA, piezoelectric materials, closed -loop control is required to
achieve the high precision control. Second, some materials need special power source to
drive, which means the increasing in the complexity and weight of additionally power source.
For example, EAP, piezoelectric materials and magnetostriction materials need to be driven
by high voltage or high current. Third, high level of the demanding for driving energy makes
it difficult to find an efficient method to drive some materials, such as SMP. Moreover, some
material have poor mechanical properties, which have restricted the development and
application of them. For instance, piezoelectric materials and magnetostriction materials
usually are partial to brittle failure and SMA, SMP and EAP have poor anti-fatigue ability.
All these aspects mentioned above should be avoided cautiously when applying these smart
materials as actuators. Materials modification should be focused on in future work.

Sensors
Optical fibers

In a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor, a grating is etched into the core of an optical fiber. The
refractive index of the fiber will change in response to an axial strain or a change in
temperature. Strain caused by change in the ambient temperature, stress, pressure, or crack
formation among other factors, can be obtained accurately by temperature compensation.
Embedded FBG sensors have been used in composite wing to monitor impact damage, cracks
and loads. These sensors can identify the location and the shapes of fatigue cracks and the
time of failure. Furthermore, FBG sensors can monitors the dynamic strain in a wing in flight.
The wing root structure of an F/A-18 was tested under fatigue loading. Using FBG sensors,
the fatigue life and mechanisms and the failure locations could be monitored.

FBG sensors can be used in morphing wings to monitor the shape of the wing. Deflections in
variable-camber wings have been determined from the strain in a metal plate or a hinge
measured using FBG sensors. The actual shape of a twisting wing actuated by SMAs can be
monitored with an array of FBG sensors and a neural network. The shape of an SMP can be
measured with FBG sensors, which have potential applications in a folding skin.

Piezoelectric materials

In piezoelectric materials, applying an electric current to the material causes the material to
undergo a change in dimensions. Conversely, a change in dimensions generated an electric
charge in a piezoelectric material. This property can be used to create a sensor. Piezoelectric
sensors can be installed inside a structure or attached to the surface to detect internal
structural damage based on sound and ultrasound. In one study, a health monitoring system
for a composite airframe using piezoelectric sensors to measure structural strains under high-
frequency loading was developed. Piezoelectric sensors have been used to monitor the load
and deformation bifurcations of a multi-stable structure to control its motion. This type od
sensor can also be used to measure the velocity of a morphing structure. Fig 10 shows a
device with a piezo-electric-resistive cantilever that was able to detect the differential
pressure over the wing surface of an insect.

Electro-active polymers

Similar to piezoelectric materials, EAPs, can also generate electrical signal and can be used
for flexible structures and large strain conditions. Fog 11 shows a flapping wing MAV with
EAP sensors on its wings. The lift in flight was obtained from the EAP sensors. These results
were verified in a wind tunnel test and flight tests. EAP sensors can also be used for
monitoring vibrating structures.

Self-sensing is another main feature of smart materials. Smart materials have sensing
capabilities with some environment parameters such as stress, strain, temperature and the
location of structure damage and feedback some measurable signals. However, these sensors
based on smart material also have some deficiencies stated as follows. Wire signal
transmission system is so complex and ponderous, which caused much inconvenience in
applying. In order to solve this problem, a type of wireless transmission system is already
being developed. Moreover, since there is a limit on the number of channels in signal
demodulation system, it is desired to realize a demodulation system capable of multi-signal
processing. In addition, some sensors are prone to snapping such as optical fiber sensor and
piezoelectric ceramics sensor or tearing such as EAP.

Structures

Auxetic honeycomb structures

Unlike traditional honeycomb structures, an auxetic structure is one that becomes wider when
it is stretched and therefore, it has a negative Poisson’s ratio. Auxetic honeycomb structures
have other advantages for morphing structures. Variable-camber wings have been designed
using several types of auxetic structures, including reentrant hexagonal honeycombs, chiral
honeycomb, and cross-shaped honeycombs. Zero-Poisson’s-ratio honeycombs have been
used in variables-span morphing wings. Fig 12 shows a variable-span morphing wing a 100%
extension. Similar approaches have been used to create variable-chord wing structures.
Adaptive wings have been constructed by adding pressured air in the sealed honeycombs to
obtain the optimal configuration for a given flight condition. A pressurized honeycomb has
also been used as the actuator in a morphing wingtip structure. Other honeycomb designs
have been used in wing boxes and engine fan blades.

Variable-stiffness tube structures

There is a contradiction in morphing structures, which means the structure must be both
strong and deformable. A structure with variable stiffness is required. Shape-memory
polymers are variable-stiffness materials, as discussed in section “shape memory polymers.”
This section discusses the use of variable-stiffness tubes and a flexible matrix to create a
structure. There are three types of variable-stiffness tubes. The first type is a pneumatic
muscle tube, which is also called a pneumatic muscle fiber. Pneumatic muscle fibers have
been used as actuators that shorten under air-pressure loads. In this process, the stiffness of
the tube changes dramatically. Pneumatic muscle fibers can be added to a flexible matrix to
form a morphing skin, where the transverse stiffness ratio can be as high as 120. This
morphing skin was also used in a variable-camber wing structure as both actuators and skin.

The second type of variable-stiffness tube is the SMP composite tube, a carbon fiber
filament-wound tube cured with SMP resin. In one set of studies, the modulus ratio of a
morphing skin created using SMP composite tube was 59.6 according to tensile tests.
Photographs of the out-of-plane deformation under uniform loading as the tube was being
heating are shown in fig 13.

The third type of variable-stiffness tube id called a fluidic flexible matrix composite tube.
The stiffness of the tube is controlled by the pressure of a fluid inside the tube. Pressurizing
the fluid causes a sharp increase in the stiffness because of the special anisotropic tube
structure and the incompressibility of the fluid. The modulus ratio of a skin made with F2MC
tubes can reach 55.5 and the theoretical maximum modulus ratio can be 120. To obtain a
larger modulus ratio, SMPs can be used for the matrix to form F2MC-reinfored SMP
composites. The modulus ratio for these types can reach 140, which can allow the material to
withstand conditions that could damage an F2MC. This type of tube has been used as an
actuator to drive a morphing wing structure.

Multi-stable structures

A multi-stable structure has two or more stable states, and the structures can transition rapidly
from one to the other when stimulated. Multi-stable structures have been used for morphing
wing UAVs. Multi-stable structures have been used to construct variable-sweep wings. In
tests, the wings successfully transitioned from straight to fully swept. A twisting structure has
been manufactured based on bistable structures actuated by MFCs to control a UAV.
Morphing wing trailing edges have been designed to control four states by changing the
upper surface and the lower surface, both of which are made of bi-stable structures. An
adaptive morphing-airfoil wing has been designed with a bi-stable structure that switches
between stiff and compliant modes. A morphing wingtip structure based on a bi-stable
structure can provide the optimal wing configurations for takeoff and cruise, which can be
determined from wing tunnel tests. A morphing air inlet using multi-stable structures that
switches between the open and closed positions to either create a flush surface or from a
submerged air duct with a divergent-convergent channel has been constructed. An actuator is
designed to operate at a first working temperature while in a preceding manufacturing
process the first layer of material is structurally connected to a support temperature is higher
than the first temperature so as to cause that at the first temperature the support beam is in
compression with out causing flexure thereof. SMA-actuated post-buckled pre-compressed
plates are capable of tip deflection of up to 45, and that the PBP mechanism improves top
rotation up to 40% compared to conventional antagonistically actuated SMA plates.

Corrugated Structures

Corrugated structures can undergo a large expansion or contraction in one direction. These
structures are additionally suited for folding or bending. Within a specified range of Reynolds
numbers, eddies form over the corrugated surface, similar to streamlined airfoils. Morphing
trailing-edge structures can be covered with corrugated skins. There are two method to make
corrugated structures smooth. One method is to fill the structure with flexible rubber, and the
other method is to cover it with a segmented skin similar to fish scales. Fig 15 shows a
morphing winglet with a corrugated angle and 0.055 rad change in twist angle were achieved.
Corrugated structures have been used in a flapping artificial insect wing whose aerodynamic
behavior was analyzed.

Smart structures are distinct from the traditional bearing structures, since smart structures
emphasize more the feature of deformability and designability. For different deformation
structures of morphing aircraft, a structure capable of carrying and deforming is the base of
actuator and sensors. These current designs of lightweight deformation structure have good
performance on the bearing and deformation capacity, but there are still some problems about
the relationship between deformation structures and smooth configuration to be solved. There
are two potential solution as follows. First one, smooth configuration could be realized by
finding a valid method to connect flexible skin to deformation structures. Second, searching
for theoretical support build unsmooth configurations which also have good performance on
some special aerodynamic efficiency.

Controllers

Active Vibration control

Vibration and noise significantly affect the comfort and the safety of an aircraft. Smart
materials and structures have been used to reduce the vibration of rotor blades, for example,
by twisting the blades or controlling a trailing-edge flap. Aircraft engine rotor vibrations in
the wings and the vertical stabilizer can be reduced dramatically using piezoelectric actuators
as active dampers. An active buffet alleviation system has been tested on a 1/16th-scale model
of a vertical stabilizer in a wind tunnel. Active vibration control has been used for buffet load
alleviation on a full-scale F/a-28 vertical stabilizer, the test rig is shown in fig 16.

To achieve a comfortable environment in am aircraft, the interior broadband noise can be

reduced using smart actuators. Piezoelectric actuator was used to reduce engine noise and
unsteady flow over an aft fuselage panel during takeoff on a Boing B-1B high-performance
combat aircraft.

Airflow control

The aerodynamic behavior of a body can be improved through small changes in its surface.
Piezoelectric ceramic actuators have been used with a compliant upper wing surface to create
an active wall that can be made to oscillate to reduce skin friction. Transonic drag has been
reduced using a morphing wing airfoil driven by SMAs. An active vibration surface can
reduce drag and increase lift, as was demonstrated on a 1/10-scale V-22 model in a wind
tunnel. The use of a linear array of micro-flaps on a delta wing to generate rolling moments to
control a tailless aircraft has been demonstrated in a wind tunnel. A novel wing with smooth,
hingeless morphing ailerons that increase the chordwise aerodynamic efficiency has been
developed, as shown in fig 17. The capability of this type of control surface to maintain
stability and increase efficiency has been demonstrated in wind tunnel tests and in-flight tests.

At this point, the smart materials are not applied as real controllers but actuating units.
Controllers based on smart materials put more emphasis on the active control of structures
such as active vibration control and airflow control. Controllers, sensors and actuators, and
smart structures combine electronic technology to form a smart system capable of sensing,
processing, and actuating which will be the developing trend of smart materials and
structures.

Conclusion

In this article, application of smart materials and structures in morphing aircraft were
reviewed. These materials are already being used in several micro air vehicles, unmanned
aerial vehicles, ad full-size aircraft, suggested the great potential of smart materials and
structures in morphing aircraft. However, smart materials and structures in morphing aircraft.
However smart materials and structures are not currently suitable for production aircraft. To
realize the full potential of these devices, multi-scale design and multi-disciplinary research
should be considered and the following five challenges should be addressed:

1. Material modification. At the molecular scale, an amputation, grafting or

recombination technology could be used to improve the performance of current smart
materials.
2. Functional additives. Additives could be incorporated into smart composites to make
them multifunctional. For example, SMPs can be heated electrically by incorporating
conductive additives.
3. Structure optimization. Optimized structures can be designed using topology
optimization methods. Moreover, novel structures may be discovered by applying
new concepts.
4. Hybrid applications. Novel structures can be constructed using various smart
materials, for honeycombs constructed using SMAs or SMPs, bi-stable-structure
actuators constructed from MFCs and hybrids linear step actuators driven by
magnetostrictive or piezo-electric materials.
5. Novel smart materials. Many types of novel smart materials are required and effort
should be made to create and investigate them.