PACS – NUMERICAL APPROACH AND EVALUATION OF A CONCEPT FOR DIMENSIONING PRESSURE ACTUATED CELLULAR STRUCTURES

Abstract

A biologically inspired concept is investigated which can be utilized to develop energy efficient, lightweight and applicational flexible adaptive structures. Summarizing basic demands and barriers regarding shape changing structures, the basic challenges of designing morphing structures are listed. The analytical background describing the physical mechanisms of PACS is presented in detail. This work focuses on the numerical approach of calculating the geometrically highly nonlinear deformation states of pressure actuated cellular structures. Beyond the calculation of equilibrium states a form finding algorithm is presented, which allows determining structural designs following predefined target shapes. Initially made assumptions are dropped incrementally to show the effects on the accuracy of the modeling. FEM-based calculations and experimental test results provide the computational target data for the varying grade of simplifications. Representative of more complex structures, like aircraft control surfaces, the examined geometries are chosen to evaluate the numerical methods and to validate the functionality of the basic working principle.