P1210
INTRINSICALLY-SMART
COMPOSITE
STRUCTURES
Moishe Garfinkle
Christopher Pastore
garfinkm@mail.drexel.edu
pastorec@philau.edu
(215) 235-5042
(215)
951-2683
Executive Summary
Hitherto intrinsically-smart
(passive) structures, particularly box-beams, could not be continuously-wound
but rather required manual-layup of fabric sections, resulting
in seams, potential regions of weakness in load-bearing applications.
Such discontinuities severely limits the usefulness of intrinsically-smart
structures in life-critical applications, particularly when serving
as wing spars.
An intrinsically-smart box-beam
fabricated by continuous-winding without discontinuities is described
and aeronautical applications relating to wing and rotor stabilization
suggested. Wings with heavy tip loads such as fuel, weapons or
lift engines are subject to adverse pitch-twist coupling under
harsh weather conditions or during severe maneuveres, as are high
aspect-ratio wings of aircraft serving HALE missions. Wing spars
with intrinsic beneficial twist-bend coupling can ameliorate these
adverse effects.
The intrinsically-smart load-bearing
box-beam architecture described herein can be fabricated by continuous-winding
using conventional winding equipment and exhibits reversible twist-bend
coupling. The proprietary continuous-winding architecture of
the coupled beam was developed by M.
Garfinkle, evaluated
by C. Pastore and
S. Greenhalgh, and
analysed by C. Pastore,
A. Bogdanovich and A. Birger.
- CONTENTS
- 1. Nomenclature
- 2. Fabrication of Coupled
Box-Beams
- 3. Performance of Quasi-Unbalanced
Box-Beams
- 4. Configurational Considerations
- 5. Application Considerations
- 6. Specific Application
- 7. Combined Techniques
- 8. Summary
- For detailed information
concerning the coupled spar
- consult the webpage:
-
- INTRINSICALLY-SMART
COUPLED BOX BEAMS
- Moishe Garfinkle
Christopher Pastore