Apllication of Shape Memory Alloys

in Several Studies

by
Joshua Christian Nathanael
U1320096D

Aircraft Improvements
As explained by Nathal and Stefko (2013), some factors that determine the performance of
an aircraft include engine's noise, engine's emission and efficiency of fuel consumption, and
various studies have shown that these can be improved not only by increasing the properties of
the materials, but also by optimizing them according to the part of the flight cycle and to the
environment. For instance, optimization from take-off to cruise only takes a slight change in the
geometry of inlet or exhaust nozzle, the shape of wing, fuel nozzles and mixers and other parts.
Another instances are the active control in compressor flow which improves the aerodynamics to
improve efficiency and also avoids condition where air flow becomes unstable and disrupted, and
also active control on the clearance between turbine blades and their cover.
The idea of being able to control and change the shape and geometry of aircraft
components has been conceived in the past, but conventional solutions using electric, hydraulic or
pneumatic actuators will cause excessive weight to the aircraft structure and they are unapplicable
in practice. For these concepts to be executable, a novel solution that cross limitations and goes
beyond convention is needed.
Smart Material
Smart materials are "materials that receive, transmit, or process a stimulus and respond by
producing a useful effect that may include a signal that the materials are acting upon it". Other
than producing a useful effect, smart material must have reversible reaction, i.e. property is
reverted once the stimulus no longer acts upon the smart material. Additionally, smart materials
have asymmetrical nature, although this applies only to some and there hasn't been much study to
confirm this.
The stimulus can be in the form of of applied stress, pressure, temperature change,
magnetic field, and others. How smart materials can give their response can be made possible
through absorption of a proton, a chemical reaction, change in the structure of molecules, creation
and movement of cyrstalline defects, rearrangement of stress and strain field, among others. The
effect as the response can be a change in color, change in index of refraction, change in
distribution of stresses and strains, volume change, or others. (Harvey, 2006)
As described by Vepa (2010), according to the stimulus and corresponding response, smart
materials may have these features which set them apart from common materials:
1. Piezoelectric and Piezoresistive
Piezoelectricity is the generation of charge when mechanical stress is applied. The material

becomes strained when stress is applied and the molecules become electrically polarized and the
degree of of polarization is proportional to the strain. This is a feature of some crystalline materials
where the crystal structures do not have reflection symmetry. While piezoresistivity is the change
in conductivity, hence change in resistivity, when mechanical stress is applied. When the material is
strained, the distance between atoms change and the likelihood of electrons to travel in the
material is affected, and therefore the conductivity and resistivity changes.
2. Electrostrictive, Magnetostrictive and Magnetoresistive
Electrostrictivity is the elastic deformation of materials when electric field is applied. All
electrical non-conductors and dielectrics (electrically-polarizable material) have this property, and
it is different from the inverse piezoelectric effect, where the deformation changes direction when
the electric field is reversed while direction of deformation in normal electrostrictivity is unaffected
upon field reversal.
Magnetostrictivity is deformation in materials due to application of magnetic field. Based
on the magnetic field that a material produces when external magnetic field is applied, magnetic
materials can be categorized into:
- Diamagnetic where the induced field has opposite direction to the external field,
- Paramagnetic where the induced field has the same direction to the external field,
- Ferromagnetic where the material has magnetic domains, each with its magnetic moment,
and these domains rearrange such that the magnetic moments are aligned in the same
direction with applied external field, and remain that way even after the external field is
removed.
- Ferrimagnetic on the other hand has some domains with magnetic moments that align in
the opposite direction with applied external field, but also stay that way after the external
field is removed,
- and Anti-Ferromagnetic has equal domains of opposing magnetic moments when no
external field is applied, and becomes ferrimagnetic-like when external field is applied, but
doesn't retain this condition once the field is removed.
Ferromagnetic materials have magnetostrictive property as when the domains rearrange,
the boundaries between them change accordingly and thus changing the shape of ferromagnetic
material in external magnetic field. While magnetoresistivity is change in material conductivity and
resistivity due to application of magnetic field.

3. The Shape Memory Effect

Some smart materials have shape memory effect where in low temperature it can be
deformed to any shape but when it is heated, it turns back to its original shape. This is possible as
the structure within the material is particular at certain condition, and when the condition is
fulfilled the structure within and hence the shape of the material has to be as it is supposed to.
When there is resistance in returning to its original shape, it can generate great force proportional
to its size so that its shape can become as it was originally.
4. Electro- and Magnetorheological Effects
Rheology can be understood as the study of the flow of matter, including solids that can
flow instead of only deform elastically. Electrorehological fluid is a kind of colloid mixture that
consists of dielectric particles suspended in a non-conducting liquid. This mixture can turn from
liquid to solid state by applying electrical field. Without electrical field, the electric dipoles within
the dielectric particles are in irregular orientation. Once an external electrical field is applied, the
dipoles align accordingly and form chains of dipoles, and stronger electrical field causes the chains
to come together and form column structures which are stronger than chains.
Similarly, a magnetorheological fluid is a suspension mixture of magnetic (e.g. carbonyl iron
and soft iron) particles in a carrier fluid (usually a hydrocarbon-based oil). This fluid can be in liquid
or solid form depending on the presence of strong external magnetic field. It can be embedded
into rigid structures such that the structures can withstand relatively large external forces at which
point the structures snap without the fluid.
The development of smart materials offers novel solutions that the geometry optimization
need to be executable, as smart materials behave not like common materials but have its special
feature which can be utilized to execute the once near-impossible concept. Actuation using shape
memory alloys is one method that is of great interest as it has advantages over conventional
actuation mechanism such as able to generate great force, simpler design that takes fewer parts,
smaller in size, and less power requirement (Nathal and Stefko, 2013).
Shape Memory Alloys
As explained by Barbarino et al. (2014), shape memory effect was already noticed as early
as 1930s when lander noticed it in cadmium-gold (Cd-Au) alloy in 1932 and when Greninger and
Mooradian noticed similar feature in brass (Cu-Zn alloy) under thermal fluctuations. But the term

'shape memory effect' was not created until 1951 when Chang and Read described the behavior of
Cu-Zn alloy, and shape memory alloy only began to gain popularity in the 1960s. By this time,
Buehler et al in 1963 discovered that nickel-titanium (NiTi) alloy, called NiTiNOL, also has shape
memory effect as well. NiTi alloy usually contains 49-57% nickel, while the composition of NiTiNOL
to exhibit shape memory effect can only vary from 38% to 50% titanium by weight. Some other
alloys that have shape memory effect are listed in the table below.
Alloy

Composition

Transformation range (oC)

Ag-Cd

4449% Cd

-190 to -50

Au-Cd

46.550% Cd

30 to 100

Cu-Al-Ni

1441.5% Al; 34.5% Ni

-140 to 100

Cu-Au-Zn

2328% Au; 4547% Zn

-190 to 40

Cu-Sn

15 at.% Sn

-120 to 30

Cu-Zn

38.541.5% Zn

-180 to -10

38% Al

0 to 150

46% Al; 2228% Zn

Room temperature

In-Ti

1823% Ti

60 to 100

Ni-Al

3638% Al

-180 to 100

Ni-Ti

4951% Ni

-50 to 110

Fe-Pd

30% Pd

-100

Fe-Pt

25% Pt

-130

Mn-Cu

5-35% Cu

-250 to 180

Cu-Zn-Al

Fe-Mn-Si
32% Mn; 6% Si
-200 to 150
Table 1. Some of the alloys that exhibit shape memory property (Barbarino et al, 2014)
Different alloys with different composition will naturally have different thermal and mechanical
properties. When compared with other alloys, NiTi is the alloy that generates the greatest interest as it has
a balance between good processability and mechanical properties, recoverable even with high strain of 8%
(albeit only for one cycle), and lower prodution costs. As can be seen in the following table, in comparison
with Cu-Zn-Al and Cu-Al-Ni alloys, NiTi alloy is lighter with less density with finer grain size, has higher
strength and ductility, and is able to withstand higher temperature in higher number of cycles.
NiTi

Cu-Zn-Al

Cu-Al-Ni

1 - 100

50 - 150

25 - 100

6.4

6.45

7.64

Thermal expansion coefficient (10 K )

6.6 - 11

17

17

Resistivity ( cm)

80 - 100

8,5 9.7

11 - 13

Damping capacity (SDC%)

15 - 20

30 - 85

12 - 20

Physical properties
Grain size (m)
Density (g m-3)
-6

-1

Thermal conductivity (W m-1 K-1)

10

120

30-43

Normal number of thermal cycles

>105

>104

>5 x 103

Melting Temperature (K)

1573

1223 - 1293

1273 - 1323

390

400

373 - 574

-1

-1

Heat capacity (J kg K )

Mechanical Properties
Normal working stress (GPa)

0.5 - 0.9

0.4 - 0.7

0.3 0.6

Fatigue strength (N=106) (GPa)

0.35

0.27

0.35

Young's modulus (GPa) (austenite)

83

72

85

Young's modulus (GPa) (martensite)

34

70

80

Yield strength (GPa) (austenite)

0.69

0.35

0.4

Young's strength (GPa) (martensite)

0.07 0.150

0.08

0.13

Ultimate tenstile strength (GPa)

0.9

0.6

0.5 0.8

Transformation properties
Heat of transformation (J mole-1) (martensite)

295

160 - 440

310 - 470

Hysteresis (K) (martensite)

30 - 40

10 - 25

15 - 20

Recoverable strain (%) (one-way martensite)

8
4
Table 2. Properties of some shape memory alloys (Barbarino et al, 2014)

Shape memory alloys can be produced in several ways. One of which is with melting
techniques using an electric arc or electron beam in a vacuum, and the alloy in liquid form is then
shaped into rods, and eventually into wires. Another one is through cold production where the
alloy is shaped when it is 'cold' solid state instead of 'hot' liquid form. Different processes give
alloys with different mechanical properties and phase transformation process and therefore the
study on how the properties of shape memory alloys depend on the production process becomes
important in improving performance of the alloy and make it suitable for the intended purpose.
Within shape memory alloys, there are crystalline, micro-structures which can transform at
certain condition. At lower temperature the alloys have face-centered cubic crystal structure and
its phase is called martensite, and at higher temperature the alloys have body-centered cubic
crystal structure and its phase is called austenite. In austenite phase, the alloy has higher Young's
modulus while in martensite phase, the alloy is less stiff and has a non-linear stress-strain
relationship.
The phase where the alloy is stable in depends on the temperature, the applied load and
the experience (temperature and loading) that the alloy has gone through. Putting the alloy in high
temperature and reducing the load applied to it will give the alloy in austenite phase, and putting
the alloy in low temperature and increasing the load applied will give the alloy in martensite phase.

Without any load applied and with changing temperature, the alloy transforms from martensite
phase into austenite phase starting from temperature As to Af (austenite start to finish), and then
the alloy transforms back to martensite starting from temperature Ms to Mf (martensite start to
finish). Most shape memory alloys have Mf being the lowest temperature, followed by Ms, As, and
Af.
With the transformation of the phases in the microstructure, together with the
characteristic from each phase, the shape memory alloys have macroscopic features which can be
observed:
1. Shape Memory Effect
Firstly, the shape memory alloy is formed with a
certain shape when it is in austenite phase, and then it
is cooled down. When the shape memory alloy is in
martensite phase at low temperature, the crystal
structure within has high density of configuration
where crystal planes are opposite to each other
(twins) and they are very mobile such that when the
alloy is loaded beyond yield point, the crystal structure
Figure 1. The transformation of microstructure does not break down but the crystal planes that are
in shape memory effect (Barbarino et al, 2014)

opposite with one another unfold (detwinning) from

their symmetry and thus enabling the alloy to take on more load by having strain but without
major atomic displacement.
When the alloy is heated up, the phase of the alloy transforms from martensite to austenite
phase, and this transformation 'restarts' the alloy as the change of crystal structure causes the
alloy to be back to its original shape when it was in austenite phase and the alloy is recovered from
any deformations it had when it was in martensite phase.
2. Pseudo-Elastic Effect
This shape memory alloy has this effect when it is working at elevated temperature (above
Af) where the shape memory alloy is in austenite phase. When load is applied and the alloy
becomes deformed beyond yield point of austenite phase, detwinned martensite phase is formed
just like the ones in shape memory effect, except this time around the martensite phase does not
come from detwinning of martensite phase but formed directly from austenite phase. As at
temperature above Af only austenite phase that is stable, once the load is no longer applied, the

crystal structure in martensite phase returns to

austenite phase and therefore the alloy recovers
from any deformations and reverts back to its
original shape.
This behavior is called pseudo- and not purely
elastic because in purely elastic deformation, the Figure 2. The transformation of microstructure
microstructure in the material is the same, i.e. no

in psedo-elasticity (Barbarino et al, 2014)

phase transformation and stays as it is, while in pseudo-elastic effect, the alloy changes phase from
austenite to martensite which enables the alloy to withstand a lot more strain after reaching yield
point.
However, the shape memory effect and pseudo-elasticity does not prevent the shape
memory alloy to have the same problems as normal alloys have. First of all is fatigue, especially
when the shape memory alloy is working at elevated temperature with load too much to bear for
too long of a duration. The long-term performance and fatigue behavior of shape memory alloys
depend on how the alloy was produced and fabricated, the amount of loading the alloy
withstands, the temperature the alloy works in, the number of cycles of transformation the alloy
has gone through among other factors.
Fatigue in shape memory alloys can be induced from putting the alloy in cycles of loading
and unloading. If the loading is still within the elastic capacity of the alloy, its life can be prolonged
for as long as 10 million cycles. On the other hand, if the loading is beyond elastic capacity of the
alloy and causes detwinning or stress-induced martensitic transformation, its life may be
shortened to only the order of thousands of cycles. Furthermore, different loading conditions, such
as constant stress loading and constant strain loading, also cause different fatigue behavior of the
alloy where alloy in constant stress loading has longer life than in constant strain loading.
Besides mechanical cycles, the fatigue in shape memory alloys can also be caused by
thermally-induced transformation cycles. With a constant load, the alloy can be put in changing
temperature which goes in cycles and therefore causing phase transformation cycles. The
transformation can be complete from pure austenite phase to pure martensite phase and back, or
partial where the alloy doesn't completely transform into purely another phase but ends as a
mixture of phase before returning to initial phase. Other than having the amount of load within
elastic capacity, partial transformation may be able to extend the life of shape memory alloy
considerably.

In addition to the loading and phase transformation cycles, other factors that can induce
fatigue and shortens the life span of shape memory alloy include corrosion due to high annealing
temperature and chemically reactive environment, overheating, composition of and addition to
the alloy. Therefore, knowing the working condition of the shape memory alloy, improving
fabrication process and alloy composition can help in extending the life span of shape memory
alloy.
Morphing Aircraft Structures
The aircraft is designed in such a way that it has enough rigidity to support itself when
flying in high speed and carrying heavy weight. When the structure of the aircraft cannot be
changed easily at will, it will have to make a compromise in its design so that the aircraft is able to
perform all stages of flight in the first place. Since an aircraft flies in different, changing conditions
during a flight, and yet its design is not optimized for any condition during its journey, the aircraft is
not working optimally.
The idea of aircraft morphing arises from the need to improve the performance of aircraft
during a flight, which means in every condition it goes through rather than only one condition, and
to do so, the geometry of various parts of the aircraft is made adaptive and changeable according
to the input from pilot and the flight conditions. The aircraft and its structure will have to
withstand the forces working on it and experience little deformation, and when needed, it can
have a major change in the shape of the structure to optimize flight performance in a certain
condition.
Shape memory alloy can be utilized to make aircraft morphing possible, with its special
behavior for actuating mechanism and also the ability to carry load together with the others parts
on the aircraft. Actuators that employ shape memory alloy have been shown to be able to exert
great force when its shape transform, less number of parts and smaller in size than conventional
actuators, and also low power requirement.
Despite its potential however, the relation between stress from the loading, strain
experienced and temperature is not yet understood completely and therefore its behavior cannot
be predicted for any given condition. Although several models have been proposed to predict the
behavior of shape memory alloys, they are only valid for a certain condition and cannot be applied
for all conditions. Meanwhile, in designing an aircraft with a morphing ability, it is important that
the behavior of shape memory alloy can be estimated accurately for any given condition. This lack
of a definitive model of behavior of shape memory alloys prevents the application of shape

memory alloy actuators to more complex designs.

Nevertheless, actuators with shape memory alloy has been tested in various studies that
attempted to apply morphing mechanism to some air craft components, such as the wings, flaps
and the engine's nozzle.
1. Wings and flaps

Figure 3. (a) The cross-section of the flap structure with the hinges; (b) The required
roataion of the members at the hinges; (c) smart memory wires at the hinge (Karagiannis
et al, 2014).

Karagiannis et al. (2014) did a study on airfoil morphing using actuation that employs shape
memory alloy. A flap structure was developed with shape memory wires attached on the top and
bottom of the parts of the flap. These parts were connected with hinges so that the they are free
to rotate and move up and down. The airfoil of the flap could be changed upon activation of the
shape memory wires, that is by heating up the shape memory wires on one side of the flap.
Instead of running electrical current directly through the shape memory wires, electrical wires
wrapped the shape memory wires and current ran through the electrical wires so that the
electrical wires heats up and therefore the shape memory wires were heated up as well. The shape
memory wires had been strained before they are attached to the parts of the flap so that when the
wires were heated up, they contracted back to their original length, pulled the parts of the flap,
and consequently changed the airfoil of the flap.
Firstly, before a prototype of the flap structure was created, the flap structure was

designed. Finite Element (FE) stress analysis was used to determine the appropriate sizes of the
members in the flap by calculating the stress, strain and displacement of the flap structure while
putting the sizes of each member, the weight and strength of the material (aluminum in this case),
and the loading into consideration. FE stress analysis would come up with calculated results of
stress, strain and displacement of the flap for a given design and the results were compared with
the material strength. If the results exceeded the material's strength, the sizes of the members
would be modified and the process was repeated until the structure was analytically found to be
strong enough to withstand the loading. Similar process was also done to determine the size of
the nuts and pins, but using another analytical method based on experimental data.
The performance of the smart memory wires and the morphing flap were also simulated
using ABAQUS Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software. The software could be modified to include
an additional feature, developed in University of Patras, that enabled the software to include the
behavior model of the shape memory alloy developed by Lagoudas et al in 2008, so that the
behavior of the smart memory wire and the morphing performance of the flap could be simulated
and estimated. For a given loading of 8 kg, the stress in the shape memory wire, the change in
temperature and the displacement of the flap's trailing edge during morphing were calculated and
recorded for comparison with experimental results later. It was also found that the stress and the
temperature rise experienced by the shape memory wire during morphing were tolerable and the
morphing mechanism with shape memory wires was feasible.
Once the design of the flap was done, the test rig was also designed accordingly so that the
flap structure can be supported during experiment and they could fit each other upon assembly.
Every members, nut and pins of the flap structure and the test rig are then assembled in a
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software to ensure that they all would come together without
issues during assembly and morphing. After everything was fit in its place, the prototype of the
flap structure and the test rig were built according to the detailed drawing done with the CAD
software.
After the prototype of the flap was built, its morphing capability, its integrity and the
structure's dynamic behavior were tested. Firstly, the flap was tested to morph without loading.
When the shape memory wires below the flap was heated up and activated, it contracted and
pulled the parts of the flap down. After that, the shape memory wires above the flap was activated
and the ones below the flap were no longer heated up, and the flap returned to its initial shape.
Laser Doppler Vibrometer was used to measure the distance from the floor to the trailing edge of
the flap. Therefore the displacement of the flap's trailing edge can be determined from the

Figure 4. The flap structure initially (a), when the wires below
were activated (b), and when the wires above were activated (c)
(Karagiannis et al, 2014).

difference of the distance to the trailing edge before and after morphing. The morphing
mechanism applied to flap was able to change the airfoil of the flap and the trailing edge was able
to move down 50 mm from its initial position.
Secondly, the flap was tested to morph with 8 kg loading. During a flight, the aircraft wings
experience upward aerodynamic forces which become loading to the structure of the aircraft
wings. To simulate this, the flap was put on to the testing rig upside down, and two 1-kg and three
2-kg sandbags are placed on the flipped flap to represent loading. The flap was then activated to
morph and then return to its original shape, but this time under the given loading. Furthermore, in

Figure 5. Eight kilograms of sandbags placed on the flipped flap structure (Karagiannis et al, 2014)

addition to the trailing edge, the displacement of other parts of the flap were also measured the
same way as it was done previously using Laser Doppler Vibrometer. It was found that even with
the loading, the morphing mechanism still worked satisfactorily with the trailing edge displaced as
far as 65.5 mm. The performance of the morphing flap during experiment was also compared with
the calculated results from the simulation done using ABAQUS FEA software, and both results were
in acceptable agreement with each other. The slight difference between them was explained to be

caused by the changing temperature of the shape memory wires after activation which had not
been considered in the simulation.
After that, the integrity of the flap structure was tested with 24 kg loading, to simulate real
loading from an average condition of a steady flight. To replicate such condition, the flap was again
used upside down with 12 2-kg sandbags placed on it. For this test, the flap was not activated to
morph because this test was done to see whether the flap would still hold together with such
loading acting on it. At the start, the flap didn't have the sandbags on it and the distances from the
floor to each member of the flap structure were recorded. Then the sandbags were put on the flap
and the changed distances to each member were recorded. After that, the sandbags were
removed and the distanced to each member were recorded again. During loading, the trailing edge
deflected as far as 35 mm but the flap structure stayed intact. After loading, the trailing edge didn't
return to its initial position but there were 9 mm remaining deflection. This was explained to be
caused by the sliding of shape memory wires in its attachment on the flap and the wires had been
strained during loading. Nonetheless, the flap structure exhibited sufficient integrity upon loading.
Lastly, the flap structure's dynamic behavior was specified with ground vibration analysis.
The flap structure was given a slight knock with an impact hammer and accelerometers installed
on the flap structure would measure the vibration along the flap so that the natural frequency, the
damping ratio (how the vibration attenuate after a while) and the natural mode of vibration of the
flap structure can be determined. First the flap structure was tested when it was put up as
undeformed cantilever, and the natural frequency and the damping ratio were found to be 40.6 Hz
and 1.34 per cent respectively. When the flap structure was put up with free supports by using
elastic springs where support forces are minimized, the natural frequency and the damping ratio
were found to be 17.1 Hz and 0.49 per cent respectively. The modal frequencies give the idea on
how the vibration should be controlled to avoid resonance from having the same frequency with
the modal frequency. The damping ratios were less than one which showed that during vibration,
the flap structure was underdamped and the vibration was similar to that of simple harmonic
oscillation but with decreasing amplitude.
Bil et al (2013) also did a study on airfoil morphing and created a wing prototype that could
morph its airfoil by putting shape memory actuator in the wing. The actuator was in the form of
shape memory wires which connected two pieces of wood, one glued near the leading edge of the
wing and one attached to the lower plane of the airfoil. The shape memory wires had been
strained before they were attached to the wing so that upon activation, the wires would contract
back to its initial length, pull the the leading edge of the wing and change the airfoil profile of the

wing prototype.
Before the wing prototype was built, the wing
prototype had to be designed. Finite Element
stress analysis and Computational Fluid Dynamics
were used to predict the behavior of the wing.
Different configurations such as the material of
Figure 6. The structure of the airfoil with morphing the wing, position of the shape memory
capability (Bil et al, 2013)

actuators, and the forces from the actuators were

analyzed to determine the design of wing with satisfactory morphing capability, along with the
required number of shape memory wires to achieve the morphing capability. It was decided that
the wing would be made of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic due to its flexibility and
easiness in production. Once all the details in design were confirmed, the wing prototype with the
shape memory actuators was built.
The activation of the smart memory actuators could be controlled with a controller which
would receive feedback from the strain gages installed on the wing and signals were sent to the
actuator so that the wing could morph to the designated shape. There were three different
controllers with different approaches on controlling the the actuators: proportional-integralderivative (PID) controller, PID controller with robust compensator, and PID controller with antiwindup compensator. The performance of the three controllers, such as the accuracy and the
quickness of response, were investigated by running a simulation which replicated two conditions
with different temperature (20oC and -13oC) temperature. Each controller was tested to run in the
two conditions and it was found that the PID controller with anti-windup compensation (AWC) had
the best performance. From this point onward, the study used PID controller with AWC to control
the morphing of the wing prototype.
The wing prototype was then tested in a wind tunnel to examine the performance of the
controller in practice. In testing the controller, the actuator was supplied with power of 38 W and
54 W, which was larger than the power supplied in the simulation in previous part to promote the
morphing process in the presence of aerodynamic forces from the air flow. The wing was tested in
an air flow with Reynolds number of 1 x 10 5 at 0o and 2.5o angle of attack, and then in an air flow
with Reynolds number of 2 x 105 at 0o and 2.5o angle of attack. Using 38 W power supply, the
response was slower and the steady-state had greater error, but the wing's shape settled quicker
and no overshoot occurred. On the other hand, using 54 W power supply, the response was faster
and the steady-state error had smaller error, but it took longer for the wing's shape to settle and

overshoot occurred.

Figure 6. The wing prototype in the wind tunnel (Bil et al, 2013).

The wing prototype was also tested in a wind tunnel to determine the effect of the
morphing mechanism on the wing's coefficient of lift and drag. For all angles of attack, the
coefficient of lift was found to be proportional and linearly related to the amount of wing
morphing, although the rate of increase of the coefficient differed between the wing's angles of
attack. Furthermore, the coefficient of drag also changed when the wing morphed and therefore
the ratio between coefficient of lift and coefficient of drag would reflect better on the
improvement of the morphed wing's performance. It was found that the ratio between the two
coefficients increased about 15% from original for low angles of attack (between 0 o to 2.5o), which
showed that morphed wing would perform well during cruising. However at larger angles of attack,
the ratio wasn't improved significantly when the wing was morphed.
2. Engine Nozzle
During flight, an aircraft engine operates more efficiently with a smaller nozzle diameter
when it cruises, but small nozzle diameter is unsuitable for take off as it can disrupt the air flow
through the engine and cause stall condition. In the end, the nozzle is designed as a compromise
between the two cases. Variable area fan nozzles can solve the dilemma by enabling the nozzle to
change its area and optimize the engine's performance according to the portion of the flight.
Additionally, enlarging the area of the fan nozzle causes the velocity of the fan to decrease and the
engine noise to reduce as a result.

Mabe et al (2008) developed an antagonistic

mechanism using shape memory actuators to make
variable area fan nozzle possible. They built a nozzle
using interlocking aluminum panels and each panel had a
shape memory actuator attached to it. There were
actuators that would pull back the panel to expand the
nozzle and there were actuators that would push the
panel inward to contract the nozzle, and the two types of
actuators were attached to the panels alternately. The

Figure 7. Configuration of the variable

interlocking between the panels and the actuating forces area nozzle (Mabe et al, 2008)
were adjusted so that the edges of every panel were in

contact with the edges of adjacent panels. To expand the nozzle area, the actuators that would pull
back the panels were activated and the panels would adjust themselves through interlocking so
that the area of the nozzle increased. Similarly, to contract the nozzle area, the actuators that push
the panels inward were activated and the panels would position to fit each other and consequently
decrease the area of the nozzle.

Figure 8. Nozzle fully contracted (left) and 20% expanded (right) (Mabe et al,
2008)

The developed nozzle was first tested by having a constant air flow with 0.9 Mach and the
nozzle was tested to vary its diameter by expanding and contracting its area. The test exhibited
adequately good control in varying the nozzle area. However, when the the nozzle was tested with
changing air flow speed, it took minutes before the actuators managed to expand or contract and
stabilize with the designated diameter. This was caused by the forces coming from the air flow and
the influence of the air flow on the temperature of the shape memory alloys in the actuators such

that the expansion or contraction of the nozzle were disrupted with the changing air flow. An
improvement in the control of the nozzle's diameter could reduce the extent and duration of the
disruptions.
Acoustic measurement was done using microphones which were lined up 33 times the
diameter away in distance and in parallel to the jet's axis. The microphones would pick up the
engine noise from various angle, from 90o to 160o with respect to upstream air flow line, and the
overall sound pressure level (OASPL) was obtained from each microphone. It was found that the
engine noise was reduced when the diameter of the nozzle was larger. In comparison with the
noise when the nozzle's diameter was 2.55 inches, the OASPL was about 2 dB lower at all angles
when the nozzle's diameter was 2.65 inches. However, when the diameter was increased to 2.75
inches and the nozzle's area was at its largest, the OASPL increased at most angles and only
decreased slightly around the angle where the OASPL was maximum. Possible causes for this was
explained to be the flow separation at the nozzle and the turbulence at the slots between the
panels that occurred when the nozzle area was fully expanded.
In addition to using a line of microphones, 157 microphones were arranged in a multi-arm
logarithmic spirals of 1 m diameter and become a nested spiral phased array to measure the
acoustic strengths in the engine by determining the sound pressure level at various points at the
engine's exit. The result from this measurement was in agreement with the previous
measurement, where the sound pressure level reduced at all points when the nozzle's diameter
was increased from 2.55 to 2.65 inches, but the sound pressure level increased and its maximum
shifted closer to the nozzle's exit when the nozzle's diameter was further increased to 2.75 inches.
A particle image velocimetry (PIV) was done to examine the velocity field of the air flow
through the nozzle. Oil droplets were added into the flowing air and smoke was added to the
ambient air, and then laser light was sent to the air flow. The smoke being blown away and the oil
droplets reflecting the laser light enabled the air flow to be seen and recorded by cameras at three
different distances from the engine to determine the velocity field of the air flow. The diameter of
the nozzle was varied when PIV was done so that the air flow through different nozzle area could
be examined. It was discovered that the flow was fairly symmetric with circular shear layer outer
boundary when the nozzle's diameter was 2.55 inches and it still held its symmetry, although the
outer boundary had kinks at this point due to the slots at the nozzle's edge, when the diameter
was 2.65 inches. When the diameter was 2.75 inches, the slots caused local vortices to form,
greatly affected the shear layer of the flow and caused the flow to lose its symmetry. This
suggested that flow separation occurred at the nozzle which could account for the increase in the

sound pressure level when the nozzle was at its largest.

Another way of reducing the noise from a jet
engine is by having a chevron structure for the
nozzle's edge. Chevron is the sawtooth pattern at
the edge of the aircraft jet engine's nozzle. It was
developed from the knowledge that protrusions at
the edge of a jet engine's nozzle, also known as
tabs, reduces the engine noise by improving the
Figure 9. Scaled down model of nozzle with static flow of the exhaust air and reducing the turbulent
chevron structure (Turner et al, 2008)

mixing of hot air from the engine with the cold air

from the engine's surroundings. However, the relation between the geometry of the chevron on
the engine noise reduction and thrust is not fully understood.
Turner et al (2008) developed an active chevron structure that enabled the tooth to deflect
inward and be immersed into the air flow. In this way, the engine noise could be reduced by having
the chevron structure, and simultaneously an optimal thrust could be achieved by changing the
nozzle's exit area. The active chevron structure was made from laminated composite structure
which was implanted with shape memory actuator. When the shape memory actuator was
activated, the chevron structure would bend into the air flow. To return to its initial position, the
shape memory actuator was deactivated while the force from the air flow and/or elasticity of the
composite structure move the chevron structure back to its initial position.

Figure 10. Design of POR active chevron (left) and POI active chevron (right). The red lines
were the shape memory actuators (Turner et al, 2008).

The active chevron structure was made with glass-epoxy composite laminates and the
shape memory actuator was placed in between the layers. There are two designs of the structure
which gives two ways of operation. First is the chevron structure is retracted by default (power-off
retracted or POR) and upon activation of the actuator, the structure would immerse into the flow.
For this mechanism, the shape memory actuator was placed below the middle laminate plane.

Second is the chevron structure is immersed into the flow by default (power-off immersed or POI)
and it would be retracted when the shape memory actuator was activated. For this mechanism,
the shape memory was placed above the middle laminate plane.
The experimental set up consists of various components. There was a system in the set up
that stored heated and pressurized air to provide controlled air flow during experiment. The stored
air would flow through the system of pipes and connections, passing through the chevron
structure, and finally out to the atmosphere through flow collector and exhaust duct. There were
also several instruments, such as the infrared (IR) cameras to measure the temperature variation
across the structure, the projection moir interferometry (PMI) system to measure the
deformation of the active chevron structure, and the laser displacement transducer (LDT) that
gives feedback signals to control the heating of shape memory actuator. The control of the heating
also had input from thermocouple and strain gages that were mounted on the chevron structure.
During testing, the air flow was controlled to simulate conditions during take off and
climbing. The chevron structure was then activated and its performance could be deduced from
various data coming from the LDT, strain gages, thermocouples, IR thermography and PMI. At the
last part of the test where the last condition of flow was simulated, it was found that the POR
chevron was able to deflect farther than the POI chevron. This was due to the difference in
mechanism between the two types of active chevron. For POR chevron, the retraction was aided
by the force from the air flow and the accumulation of permanent deformation, caused by creep in
the composite material and the changing response of the shape memory actuator overtime, was
reduced. On the other hand, POI chevron had to be designed depending on the air flow as it was
immersed into the flow by default, and during its retraction POI chevron gained permanent
deformation and this was worsened by the force from the air flow as it also took part in retracting
the POI chevron. The accumulated permanent deformation prevented the POI chevron structure to
deflect as much as POR chevron structure. However, at this point the POR structure couldn't
deflect and immerse into the flow as much as static chevron structure and improvement of POR
structure was called for.
In the POR chevron design, the actuator used two Nitinol (NiTi alloy, a shape memory alloy)
ribbons and there was a point where the two ends of the ribbon met and crossed over such that
the thickness at that point is 0.030 cm larger than other points of the structure. Originally, this was
solved by putting a flexible layer made of room temperature vulcanization (RTV) casting compound
of 0.318 cm thickness. This layer allowed the actuators to bend upward upon activation when it
should be bending downward to immerse the chevron structure into the flow. Instead of using the

flexible layer, polyimide layers were used to uniformize the thickness of the the chevron structure
and these layers have hole specifically for the cross over of the two ribbons. Furthermore, the
length of POR chevron structure was increased from 2.654 cm to 3.175 cm so that it could deflect
and immerse further.
The POR chevron structure with the new design was manufactured and made to go through
53 thermal cycles to stabilize its thermo-mechanical behavior before it was tested with flowing air.
The same settings for the air flow were used to test the improved POR chevron structure and when
the last setting of flow was applied, the improved POR chevron could deflect almost as far as 0.15
cm when originally it could only deflect 0.08 cm.
Ending Remark
The application of shape memory alloys to aircraft structures stores a great promise in
improving the performance of aircraft as the four studies has demonstrated. There will likely come
the day when shape memory alloys are applied on a large scale in aerospace industry and
innovative aircraft, with the components having morphing capability, are built to fly around the
world. In the meantime, studies on shape memory alloys and actuators can continue, for instance
on improving the properties of the special alloy such as its strength and working temperature and
on improving the design of the actuators to exert greater forces with lighter weight and lower
power consumption, as every study and work brings us a step closer to that day.

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