Experiment and analysis of morphing skin embedded with shape memory polymer composite tube

In this study, a kind of morphing skin composed of silicon rubber and shape memory polymer composite tube is designed, manufactured, and investigated. Significant stiffness variation for the morphing skin can be obtained through changing its environment temperature. First, in order to investigate the basic elastic properties of the morphing skin, the Rule of Mixture is used to predict the effective engineering modulus and modulus ratio with different matrix volume fractions. The tensile test is conducted on the skin in two states (cold state and heated state) to validate the accuracy of the theoretical method. Second, the temperature distribution of shape memory polymer composite tube heated by the hot fluid is obtained through the finite element analysis. Moreover, a corresponding heating system is designed and manufactured to provide heat for the morphing skin. Based on the heating system, the deflection and recovery performances are also investigated through the stress-bearing capability and thermal cycling tests, respectively. Finally, the infrared test is carried on the morphing skin to show the temperature distribution during the heating process.