The BAANG project advanced the multidisciplinary design, optimisation, and validation of adaptive and metamaterial-based structures for morphing wing applications. The work combined modelling, optimisation, additive manufacturing, and experimental validation across multiple research areas.
A uniaxial hysteretic superelastic constitutive model was developed for additively manufactured lattice materials, enabling efficient beam-based simulations that accurately reproduce experimental responses. Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) were applied for multiscale large-deformation analysis of metamaterials, achieving comparable accuracy to finite element methods with higher computational efficiency.
A unified model of sandwich panels with metamaterial cores and composite skins was introduced for aeroelastic optimisation, enabling direct inclusion of core parameters in the optimisation framework.
Gradient metamaterial skins and compliant mechanisms were designed for morphing leading and trailing edges. This approach was applied to the leading-edge section of the physical demonstrator, allowing the creation of a flexible metamaterial skin with gradient stiffness distribution capable of achieving smooth shape changes. Optimisation using differential evolution algorithms achieved target aerodynamic shapes under realistic loads.
A multidisciplinary design optimisation (MDO) framework was implemented for a morphing wing section with a metamaterial-based trailing edge, integrating aerodynamic, structural, and control analyses. The results guided the design and manufacture of a functional demonstrator, produced using composite layups and 3D printing, which successfully exhibited smooth trailing-edge deformation.
Further research focused on material development and smart functionality:
Material development: optimisation of Nitinol (NiTi) production by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) established the relationship between process parameters, porosity, microstructure, and thermo-mechanical behaviour. The study provided valuable data on superelastic response, fatigue behaviour, and cyclic stability of additively manufactured NiTi for potential use in morphing structures.
Smart functionality: integration of piezoelectric components within metamaterial lattices enabled self-sensing capability and tunable stiffness through electrical load control, demonstrating the feasibility of multifunctional adaptive structures.
Together, these achievements represent a complete workflow—from constitutive modelling to physical validation—meeting the project’s technical objectives and enabling experimental verification of a morphing wing concept.
