Abstract：Morphing aircraft can sufficiently change external shape for a best aerodynamic efficiency to adapt to a changing mission environment. The skin covering the aircraft structure should not only have a good in-plane flexibility to produce a smooth and continuous design deformation, but also provide adequate out-of-plane stiffness to maintain the aerodynamic configuration and deliver aerodynamic loads to the underlying structure. In this paper, a kind of flexible skin made up of the cruciform honeycomb overlying a silastic panel is proposed. The in-plane deformation mechanism of the flexible skin together with the effect of the cruciform honeycomb shape parameters on the mechanical property of the flexible skin are theoretically analyzed, and the analytical results are compared with the simulation and experimental results. According to the design requirements of the variable camber trailing edge wing, the optimized design parameters ranges of the flexible skin are given out. The results show that the flexible skin can provide enough in-plane deformation ability as well as out-of-plane bearing capacity satisfying the design requirements of the variable camber trailing edge wing.
2013, Vol. 34 
