A flexible sandwich structure skin for camber morphing wing

This study explores the feasibility of a flexible sandwich structure skin with a foam core for wing morphing applications and, introduces a novel self-adjusting assembly technique for integration with internal morphing mechanisms. The skin comprises of polypropylene face sheets and a soft acrylic foam core bonded with pressure-sensitive adhesive. Experimental evaluations, that include, peel, tension, shear, and bending tests, confirm the structure’s ability to withstand large bending deflections without face sheet wrinkling, core failure, or debonding. Finite element simulations further assess deformations and stresses developed in the skin during operation. A mounting configuration, that produces minimal skin deformation under aerodynamic pressure is proposed, and a working prototype is fabricated and demonstrated.