Holistic design and implementation of pressure-actuated cellular structures

Kurzfassung

Providing the possibility to develop energy-efficient, lightweight adaptive components, Pressure-Actuated Cellular Structures (PACS) are primarily conceived for aeronautics applications. The realization of shape-variable flaps and even airfoils provides the potential to safe weight, increase aerodynamic efficiency and enhance agility. The herein presented holistic design process points out and describes the necessary steps for designing a real-life PACS structure, from the computation of truss geometry to the manufacturing and assembly. The already published methods for the form finding of PACS are adjusted and extended for the exemplary application of a variable-camber wing. The transfer of the form-finding truss model to a cross-sectional design is discussed. The end cap and sealing concept is described together with the implementation of the integral fluid flow. Conceptual limitations due to the manufacturing and assembly processes are discussed. The method’s efficiency is evaluated by Finite Element Method (FEM). In order to verify the underlying methods and summarize the presented work a modular real-life demonstrator is experimentally characterized and validates the numerical investigations.