Adaptive air foil with shape memory alloys
Two-way shape memory wires contract and lengthen upon thermal cyling. A structural model formulated by the authors has been developed that can quatitatively describe this behaviour. Details of the model were explained.
An air foil has been built in which shape memory wires are combined with a stiff plate. Electric heating of the wires will bend the foil so as to accommodate different flying conditions. A video tape of a prototype air foil was shown.
The numerical task consists of calculating the current needed to heat the wires and to bend the air foil in as short a time as possible. A scheme was explained that is capable of achieving that task.