Development and actuation analysis of shape memory alloy reinforced composite fin for aerodynamic application

Abstract

In this investigation, a shape memory alloy (SMA) based aerodynamic composite Fin has been developed. In general, the missile fins play a crucial role in changing the direction of a conventional missile using motor arrangement. Therefore, SMA-based composite Fin might be a promising alternative to control the direction without using the motor. The composite Fin is made of laminated fiber polymer and SMA wire. Initially, rectangular composite structures have been developed with different wire prestraining percentages, lengths, diameters, and configurations to understand their electrical actuation behavior. Based on the experiments, optimized parameters have been derived and applied to the composite fin. Adaptive composite actuation was performed via selective joule heating on the composite fin. Under optimized conditions, SMA-based composite structure shows maximum displacement of 65 mm with a maximum angle of 60 degrees before failure, where the diameter of 5 % pre-strained SMA wire was 0.5 mm at 6 % of SMA to Composite ratio (volume of SMA/volume of composite). Maximum displacement and failure analysis of the composite structure has been analyzed at optimized parameters. © 2021 Elsevier B.V.