Design and Analysis of Multifuntional Shape Memory Polymer Skin for Morphing Wings

Shape memory polymers, showing advantages of variable-stiffness and large deformation, are widely used for flexible skins for morphing wing. However, it’s quite difficult for sensing of their deformation as well as temperature. and external joule heating are always required. In this paper, a novel morphing skin is proposed. The skin is composed of shape memory polymer and liquid metal wires. Micro-tunnels are designed inside the shape memory polymer skin. The liquid metal is then injected into the micro channels in substructure. The liquid metal wires exhibit functions of temperature sensing, strain sensing and Joule heating. The theoretical models are derived, followed by experimental validation.