This study is concerned with the design and development of a novel wing for UAVs that morphs seamlessly without the use of complex hydraulics, servo motors and controllers. The selected novel design is characterized by a high degree of flight adaptability and improved performance with a limited added weight. These characteristics were attained through the use of shape memory actuators in an antagonistic fashion. Unlike compliant actuators, the antagonistic setup requires the thermal energy to deform the wing but not to maintain its deformed shape. Structural analysis based upon safety factors specified by FAR23 standards and aerodynamic analysis using FLUENT were conducted on the novel design to validate its suitability as a viable wing for UAVs. In addition, thermal conditioning of the shape memory actuators was conducted using a specially designed programmable controller. This thesis does not concern itself with the design of a skin that accommodates the shape changes.

This study is concerned with the design and development of a novel wing for UAVs that morphs seamlessly without the use of complex hydraulics, servo motors and controllers. The selected novel design is characterized by a high degree of flight adaptability and improved performance with a limited added weight. These characteristics were attained through the use of shape memory actuators in an antagonistic fashion. Unlike compliant actuators, the antagonistic setup requires the thermal energy to deform the wing but not to maintain its deformed shape. Structural analysis based upon safety factors specified by FAR23 standards and aerodynamic analysis using FLUENT were conducted on the novel design to validate its suitability as a viable wing for UAVs. In addition, thermal conditioning of the shape memory actuators was conducted using a specially designed programmable controller. This thesis does not concern itself with the design of a skin that accommodates the shape changes.

Broadband, variable, and random excitations are often suppressed using active vibration absorbers (AVAs). While AVAs can be effective, they also are expensive and subject to instability when the disturbance is ill defined. A state-switched absorber (SSA) can be used for these same vibration classes while reducing the expense and instability because an SSA is only allowed to be active at discrete instances. SSAs are spring-mass-damper devices in which at least one element is controllably variable. The work presented in this dissertation evaluates the properties of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) to assess their use in SSAs as variable springs. MREs are elastomers doped with magnetically permeable material, generally iron. They are modeled as lossy springs, and have stiffness and loss factor components. Natural frequency and stiffness behavior, and their relationships to static displacement, iron content, and forcing frequency and amplitude were determined. Loss factors were found to be independent of MRE content, configuration, and static displacement. This was confirmation that MREs are in fact controllable springs. Natural frequencies changed in the presence of magnetic fields by as much as 360%. The corresponding change in static displacement could not account for this frequency change. Transient data was found by determining the length of time it took for an MRE to achieve quasi-steady state oscillation behavior when subjected to a harmonic excitation. This time was referred to as the characteristic response time. The characteristic response time correlated to the ratio of the forcing frequency to the zero-field natural frequency. When a magnetic field was turned on, the characteristic response time on average was found to be consistently longer than when the magnetic field was turned off, regardless of iron content or configuration. The difference between these two characteristic response times is caused by the particles' mechanics. To form a chain, a magnetic field must both be set up, and particles must move to join together. When a chain is broken, the magnetic field must merely be removed. However, this difference gives opportunities for future research to be conducted on controlling MREs' transient responses.

Thermally activated shape memory polymers are a desirable material for use in dynamic structures due to their large strain recovery, light weight, and tunable activation. The addition of ferromagnetic susceptor particles to a polymer matrix provides the ability to heat volumetrically and remotely via induction. Here, remote induction heating of magnetite filler particles dispersed in a thermoset matrix is used to activate shape memory polymer as both solid and foam composites. Bulk material properties and performance are characterized and compared over a range of filler parameters, induction parameters, and packaging configurations. Magnetite filler particles are investigated over a range of power input, in order to understand the effects of particle size and shape on heat generation and flux into the matrix. This investigation successfully activates shape memory polymers in 10 to 20 seconds, with no significant impact of filler particles up to 10wt% on mechanical properties of shape memory foam. Performance of different particle materials is dependent upon the amplitude of the driving magnetic field. There is a general improvement in heating performance for increased content of filler particles. Characterization indicates that heat transfer between the filler nanoparticles and the foam is the primary constraint in improved heating performance. The use of smaller, acicular particles as one way to improve heat transfer, by increasing interfacial area between filler and matrix, is further examined.

Shape memory polymer (SMP) materials have the ability to remain in a deformed state and then recover their initial/cast shape. This property has significant potential in many different fields, including aerospace and bio-medical, in which a shape change is desirable and actuation may not be required. SMP materials have been made into nano-reinforced composites and also foamed to improve desired properties for specific applications. SMP foams offer two clear advantages over non-foam SMP materials in applications for the biomedical and aerospace fields. The key advantages are lower density and significant compressibility. The significance of this is that components made out of SMP foam are lighter than traditional SMP materials, more compressible and exhibit minimal transverse change during deformation and shape recovery. This increases the performance and efficiency of devices using SMP foam material. The need for a set of design criteria, models, and limits for the use of shape memory polymer foams was proposed. The effect of temperature and strain on the mechanical behavior, compression, tensile, cyclic compression, constrained recovery and free strain recovery of the material was used to determine the operational limits of the material. Next, the damage mechanism and viscoelastic effects in compressive cycling were determined through further mechanical testing and with the incorporation of three dimensional structure mapping via micro-CT scanning. The influence of microstructure was determined by testing the basic thermomechanical, viscoelastic and shape recovery behavior of foams with relative densities of 20, 30 and 40 percent. A similar suite of tests was then performed on the base epoxy material to generate the material properties necessary to fit constitutive equations to enable computational modeling. This data was then combined with three dimensional microstructures generated from micro-CT scans to develop material models for shape memory foams. These models were then validated by comparing model results to the experimental results under similar conditions.

Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available electronically as part of the Australian Digital Theses Program.

Thesis (M.Eng.Sc.)--University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 2005. / Title from screen page; viewed 16 Aug. 2005. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-137). Also available in print format.

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of Wollongong, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references: leaf 101-106.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-133) Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1994. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 67-68). Also available via the Internet.