Design and Validation of Additively Manufactured Metamaterials in Rotational Compliant Joints for Camber Morphing Wings

Project Type
Research Project

Role
Undergraduate Research Student

Technologies
SolidWorks (CAD), ANSYS (FEA), Design of Experiments (DoE), MATLAB, Additive Manufacturing

Collaboration with
Tecnológico de Monterrey
Metamaterials and Lightweight-structures Lab

Duration
Aug 2024 - Present

This research project explores the design, fabrication, and testing of a morphing wing rib incorporating a novel additively manufactured metamaterial for rotational compliance. Developed at the Metamaterials and Lightweight Structures LAB, the project aims to improve the aerodynamic efficiency of flight control surfaces through shape adaptation enabled by passive, flexible joints.

I was responsible for the parametric modeling of the metamaterial and finite element simulations to validate mechanical behavior and guide further optimization, as well as for the development of a MATLAB application for control surface sizing based on aerodynamic criteria. Additionally, I led the manufacturing of a proof-of-concept prototype, fabricated via FDM 3D printing using PLA and TPU materials.

Ground testing confirmed the morphing functionality of the compliant rib, achieving stable deflections of ±20° validating its potential for cyclic operations in real UAVs applications.