Frequency tunable resonance actuation of a morphing wing trailing edge

As researchers continue to develop morphing aerospace structures capable of changing shape in real time to adapt to varying operating conditions, minimising the actuation effort required for shape change remains a persistent challenge. Excessive actuation mass, structural complexity, and energy consumption may offset the aerodynamic performance benefits provided by morphing capability. One promising approach to tackle these problems is to use dynamic response to actuate the structures at resonance. For example, actuating bending dominated morphing structures with integrated piezoelectric materials near their resonance frequency can produce significant displacements with reduced energy requirements. However, in this case, the actuation frequency is limited to the resonance frequency, as determined by the mass, stiffness, and damping of the structure within its operating environment, which may constrain the application scenarios. If instead, a stiffness tuning mechanism is integrated into the system, then resonance across a broader range of actuation frequencies would be possible by actively tuning the system stiffness. In the current study, a mechanism for achieving tunable stiffness in the context of a bending dominated morphing structure is first proposed. The mechanism can increase or reduce the structure stiffness, which can eventually change the resonance frequency. A theoretical analysis and finite element simulation are then performed to investigate the structural properties of the mechanism. Based on the specific stiffness of a particular camber morphing concept, the stiffness tuning mechanism is then optimised to expand the range of obtainable stiffnesses. At last, an experimental demonstrator is built to validate the mechanism by measuring the trailing edge displacement when the resonance actuation is applied with varying actuation frequencies. The concept is validated on a morphing trailing edge mechanism, illustrating its practical potential in aerospace structures requiring frequency-adaptive actuation.