Modeling Shape Memory Polymer fill Honeycomb as a Composite Skin for a Morphing Wing

Abstract

Due to its complex phase transformation behavior, a Shape Memory Polymer filled honeycomb composite has been proposed as an efficient material for skin on a morphing wing. This work develops a finite element model of the honeycomb composite that captures the material behavior while morphing through all geometric phases. To model the shape memory polymer filling, the simulation implements an experimentally calibrated user defined material subroutine in Abaqus, a commercially available finite element software. In order to validate the model, the modeled behavior is compared to experimentally determined behavior of shape memory polymers. The geometry and deformations of representative unit cells are then discussed.