Accepted Manuscript

A corrugated flexible composite skin for morphing applications

J.B. Bai, D. Chen, J.J. Xiong, R.A. Shenoi

PII: S1359-8368(17)30236-6
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.07.056
Reference: JCOMB 5192

To appear in: Composites Part B

Received Date: 19 January 2017

Revised Date: 10 May 2017
Accepted Date: 29 July 2017

Please cite this article as: Bai JB, Chen D, Xiong JJ, Shenoi RA, A corrugated flexible composite skin for
morphing applications, Composites Part B (2017), doi: 10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.07.056.

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT
A Corrugated Flexible Composite Skin for Morphing Applications
J B Bai1,*, D Chen1, J J Xiong1,*, R A Shenoi2
1 School of Transportation Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, People’s
Republic of China (*, corresponding author: baijiangbo@buaa.edu.cn, jjxiong@buaa.edu.cn)
2 Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Abstract: This paper deals with a novel corrugated flexible composite skin (FCS) for

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morphing application. The FCS is constructed with two thin-walled curved
fibre-reinforced-plastics (FRP) composite shells which can be extended through pure

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elastic deformation during a large deformation process. Thus, the area of the FCS can be

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changed significantly. Geometrical equations are established for describing the extensional
deformation of the FCS. Based on equilibrium equations and laminate theory, analytical

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solutions are derived for calculating the mechanical properties of the FCS in an extensional
deformation process. In order to validate the FCS design and the analytical model, FCS
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specimens made from T300/5228 prepreg were fabricated using vacuum bag and
co-bonding methods. Tensile tests on the FCS specimens were successfully carried out.
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Load versus displacement curves, tensile stiffness versus tensile load curves and relative
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deformation versus tensile load curves were measured. Comparisons between the
theoretical predictions and the experiments are conducted. It is shown that the predictions
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using the new model correlates well with the experiments. The theoretical analysis and
experimental validation thus show that the new FCS design was effective and feasible.
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Key words: composite; morphing; flexible skin; large deformation; corrugated

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NOMENCLATURE
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Dl longitudinal flexural stiffness of the FCS

Dt transverse flexural stiffness of the FCS

E1 elastic modulus in principal direction 1

E2 elastic modulus in principal direction 2

Eθ off-axis elastic modulus of a ply in tangential direction θ

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Eθ k
off-axis elastic modulus of the kth ply in tangential direction θ

G12 shear modulus

K0 transformation variable

L length of the FCS

Ml external flexural moment in longitudinal direction

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Mt external flexural moment in transverse direction

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Mx resultant moment in the x direction

ncell number of unit cells in a skin sheet

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N resultant force

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Pt external tensile load at the edge of the FCS in horizontal direction
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Ptf tensile strength of the FCS in horizontal direction

r curvature radius of neutral axis on cross section of the extended FCS

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r0 curvature radius of neutral axis cross-section of the original FCS

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S in-plane shear strength of a ply

St tensile stiffness of extensional FCS

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t0 thickness of the FCS

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X tensile strength of a ply in longitudinal direction

Y tensile strength of a ply in transverse direction
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W Width of the extended FCS

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αl flexural angle corresponding to longitudinal flexural moment

∆α t flexural angle corresponding to transverse flexural moment

θ polar angle of neutral axis on cross section of the FCS

δ deflection of extended FCS in horizontal direction

ϕ central angle of neutral axis on cross section of the extended FCS

ϕ0 central angle of neutral axis on cross section of the original FCS

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φ ply orientation angle

ψ relative deformation of the extended FCS

σ 1k longitudinal principal stress component of a ply

σ 2k transverse principal stress component of a ply

τ 12k in-plane principal stress component of a ply

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σ θk off-axis stress component of a ply in tangential direction of θ

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εθ in-plane strain along tangential direction of θ in extensional deformation

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ν 12 Poisson’ ratio

FCS Flexible composite skin

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1 INTRODUCTION
Due to the excellent aerodynamic efficiency and performance in various flying environments by
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transforming configurations or wing shapes, morphing aircraft are attracting increasing attention of
researchers and engineers[1-5]. Morphing wings are capable of efficiently improving the lift force.
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One of the most critical challenges in developing a morphing wing is creating a flexible skin which
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should has a desired stiffness and an ability of large extensional deformation[6, 7]. There is growing
interest, for example, in the conceptual design and assessment of mechanical properties of flexible
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skins. Philen et al.[8-10] developed a variable stiffness skin constructed of a flexible matrix and a
flexible composite tube filled with pressurizing fluid. The stiffness of the skin can be significantly
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changed by controlling the inlet pressure of the fluid. Theoretical and experimental methods were
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employed to assess the mechanical properties of the flexible tube and the skin. Murray et al.[11, 12]
proposed a flexible matrix composite (FMC) skin comprised of stiff fibres embedded in a soft
high-strain matrix materials (e.g. silicone). In the FMC skin, the large deformation ability and high
out-of-plane stiffness were respectively obtained in matrix-dominated direction (i.e. morphing
direction) and in fibre-dominated direction. An analytical model was developed to investigate the
mechanical behaviours of FMC skin under in-plane axial tensile loads and out-of-plane pressure
loads, and was validated by experiments. Although the flexible silicone skin can satisfy
requirements for the flexibility and continuity, some investigations indicated the disadvantages of
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flexible silicone skin such as the poor load bearing capacity and low tear resistance[13]. Griffin[14]
presented a flexible composite skin made of spandex fabric reinforced silicone. The insufficient
load bearing problem still persisted but the flexible composite skin was of lower density and higher
tear resistance. Olympio and Gandhi[15, 16] developed flexible skins using cellular honeycomb cores
and silicone layers. The large deformation function was realized by the cooperation of honeycomb
cores and silicone layers. The required stiffness and flexibility of skins were obtained through

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optimizing the material and geometric parameters of honeycomb cores. Furthermore, in order to
improve the Poisson effect of the flexible skins during large deformation process, a zero Poisson’s

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ratio cellular honeycomb for flexible skins was also designed[16]. Corrugated shells are flexible
along the corrugation direction and stiff in the transverse direction due to the geometrical

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characteristics of corrugations[17-23]. Thus, these structures can be used as the flexible skins. Golzar
and Ghabezi[17-18] investigated the effect of structural geometries on mechanical behaviour of

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corrugated composite skins with trapezoidal, triangular and rectangular shapes using theoretical,
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numerical and experimental methods. It was found that corrugated composite skins can afford larger
deformation than flat ones and they were good solutions to use in morphing applications. Ermakova
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and Dayyani[20] studied optimal design of composite corrugated skins with respect to better
performance and manufacturing constraints. Aggregated and genetic algorithm methods were
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employed to optimize the skin shape through minimizing the weight and in-plane stiffness and
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maximizing out-of-plane stiffness. Shape memory polymer (SMP) is a new type of smart material
that can transform between a stiff material with high modulus to a flexible material with low
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modulus by the activation of temperature[24-31]. Keihl et al.[24] conducted a series of mechanical and
functional tests for SMP and indicated that flexible skins based on SMP were an attractive and
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potential design from the prospect of application in morphing wings. Yin et al.[26] embedded a
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helical resistance wire into SMP to make for even heating and large deformation; they found that
the stripping between resistance wire and SMP occurred during the deformation process with
heating. There are still some other challenges to overcome for the future application of SMP skins,
such as heating, fatigue, recovery rate, etc.
It is clear that researchers have been trying to propose different technological solutions for
obtaining the desired flexible skins that can be applied in morphing aircraft. Some conceptual
designs have achieved significant performance improvements, and these were already validated by
theoretical and experimental investigations. However, the flexible skins technology is still in the
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early stages of development and at levels of low technological readiness. Hence there is a need for
more practical and expedient flexible skin designs for morphing applications, especially in
aerospace field.
In this paper, an attempt is made to develop a novel flexible composite skin (FCS) with the required
large deformation capability through elastic extension. Analytical solutions are established for
predicting mechanical behaviours of the FCS. The FCS specimens are fabricated by vacuum bag

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and co-bonding methods. Functional and mechanical tests are carried out. Comparisons between the
theoretical predictions and the experiments are conducted.

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2 CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE COMPOSITE SKIN

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In order to attain continuous large deformation, the skins of a morphing wing should be

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characterized with enough flexibility as well as required stiffness and load bearing capacity. For
example, the strain level of skins is 2%~5% when changing airfoil camber or chord length.
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However, the strain level of skins needs to be more than 10% if transforming the wing area.
Because of the superior specific stiffness and strength as well as ultra-light-weight and excellent
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processing property, fibre-reinforced-plastics (FRP) composites are undergoing a wide research and
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application in engineering structures. FRP composites have been widely applied in typical and
conventional skins of aircraft wing so far. However, by merely relying on the self-deformation
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ability of FRP composites alone, it is impossible to satisfy the requirements of FCS for morphing.
Hence there is a need for a more practical and expedient FCS designs for morphing applications.
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In this paper, a new FCS design is proposed. The FCS is fabricated by bonding two thin-walled
curved FRP composite shells, and then a number of tandem closed thin-walled cavities are formed
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(shown in Figure 1). The FCS can be extended through pure elastic deformation during deformation
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process. In order to obtain the reversibility, one important point to note is that the FCS should be
thin enough to ensure the strain level within elastic range in the whole large deformation process.
The original state of FCS is shown in Figure 1a. The cross-section of FCS under tensile load
gradually tends to be flat (shown in Figure 1b) and can be almost completely flattened (shown in
Figure 1c) when the tensile load reaches a certain level. The FCS automatically recovers its original
shape in a free state due to the elastic deformation energy. The maximum deformation capacity of
the FCS is described by the relative difference of tensile deformations between the original state

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(shown in Figure 1a) and the flattening state (shown in Figure 1c). The FCS derives a large
deformation function through its structural characteristics while the FRP composite shells of FCS
are in low strain state. The FCS presented in this paper can be classified as a corrugated skin that is
flexible in the corrugation direction and have good stiffness in transverse direction. The
cross-section of the new FCS is bisymmetric. The radius of curvature in arcs of the cross-section is
identical. Thus, compared with the typical corrugated skins with trapezoidal, triangular and

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rectangular shapes with corners[17-23], stress concentration in this FCS is lower during large
deformation process. Stress concentration usually occurs in the sharp corners of a structure.

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However, there are also some limitations of the new FCS. The FCS is ideally fabricated to bond the
two “Ω” shaped shells together by co-bonding method, this increases the cost and difficulties of

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manufacturing process.

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3 THEORETICAL ANALYSIS FOR EXTENSIONAL DEFORMAITON
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3.1 Geometrical model for extensional deformation
In order to characterize geometrical behaviour of the FCS in extensional deformation, three
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fundamental assumptions presented in this paper are as follows[32]:

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(1) The thickness change of the FCS shell is neglected during extensional deformation process and
the mid-surface is not stretched (i.e. the length of the mid-surface does not change). This means
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that bending strain in the FSC is dominant compared with normal tensile strain during large
deformation process due to the much small thickness as mentioned in section 2. It is easier to
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yield large deformation function of the FCS by this design.

(2) The extensional deformation process of FCS is idealized as the quasi-static elastic extensional
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deformation mode (shown in Figure 1).

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(3) The thin-walled FCS in extensional deformation is idealized as the thin-walled curved beam,
and its cross-section can be characterized by concave and convex tangential circular arcs (e.g.,

» , BC
circular-arcs AB » , AB' ¼ ) with the same central angle ϕ and curvature radius
¼ and B'C'

r (shown in Figure 2).

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the polar coordinate systems are adopted, and the unit cell is used to
describe the geometry of thin-walled FCS in extensional deformation process, thereby, the

extensional deformation can be depicted with the central angle ϕ of neutral axis for the
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cross-section of thin-walled FCS. During the extensional deformation process, the central angle ϕ

decreases from the initial central angle ϕ0 to 0, while the curvature radius r increases from the

initial curvature radius r0 to infinite.

The displacement from point B to the vertical z axis can be expressed as

yB = r sin ϕ (1)

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From assumption (3), the displacement from point C to z axis and the width of a cavity in FCS in
extensional deformation are respectively deduced as

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yC = 2 yB = 2r sin ϕ (2)

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W = 2 yC = 4r sin ϕ (3)

Deflection of point C in the horizontal direction is obtained as follows

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δ = W − W0 =4r sin ϕ − 4r0 sin ϕ0 (4)
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The relative deformation in extensional process is defined as

δ r sin ϕ − r0 sin ϕ0
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ψ= = (5)
W0 r0 sin ϕ0
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According to assumption (1), one has

rϕ = r0ϕ0 (6)
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As shown in Figure 3, the strain in the extended FCS along the tangential direction of θ can be
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written as

εθ =
( r + ∆r ) ϕ − ( r0 + ∆r ) ϕ0 (7)
( r0 + ∆r ) ϕ0
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Substituting Equation (6) into Equation (7) leads to

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ϕ r (ϕ − ϕ )
εθ = + 0 0 −1 (8)
ϕ 0 ϕ0 ( r0 + ∆r )

3.2 Analytical solutions for mechanical properties in extensional deformation

According to the definition of a moment and assumption (1), the resultant moment on the UC of
FCS in the x direction is
t0

M x = −∫ 2
t
−0
( Eθ εθ ∆r ) d ∆r (9)
2

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where Eθ is the off-axis elastic modulus of a ply in tangential direction θ and it can be written

as[33]

1 1  1 2ν 12  4 1
= sin 4 φ +  −  sin φ cos φ + cos φ
4 4
(10)
Eθ E1 G
 12 E1  E2

here θ represents the tangential direction of the cross section; the φ is the off-axis angle of a ply

relative to the tangential direction θ .

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Substituting Equation (8) into Equation (9) results in

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t0 
ϕ r (ϕ − ϕ )  
M x = − ∫ 2t0  Eθ  + 0 0 − 1 ∆r d ∆r
  ϕ 0 ϕ0 ( r0 + ∆r )  
(11)
−
2 

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Taking transformation of Equation (11) yields
t0
 ∆r 
Mx = K ∫2
 Eθ d ∆r (12)

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 r0 + ∆r 
0 t
−0
2
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where

r0 (ϕ − ϕ0 )
K0 = (13)
ϕ0
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For a laminate (shown in Figure 4), Equation (12) becomes

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 k  r0 + ∆r k  
M x = K 0 ∑  Eθ ( ∆r − ∆r ) − r0 ln
n
k k −1
 (14)
  r0 + ∆r k −1  
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k =1 

Figure 5 illustrates the restraint and external loadings on half of a thin-walled cavity of the extended
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FCS. In accordance with the symmetry principle, only internal loads N and M x necessitate to be

determined. With the aid of force equilibrium equation in the direction of y axis, it can be shown
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that
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Pt
N= (15)
2
Furthermore, by using the unit virtual load method, it is possible to have
4  ϕ ϕ

EI  ∫0
M (θ1 ) M (θ1 ) d θ1 + ∫0 M (θ2 ) M (θ 2 ) dθ2  = 0 (16)

Namely,

4  ϕ t (1 − cos θ1 ) 
Pr ϕ Pt  
 ∫0  − M x +  × ( −1) dθ1 + ∫0  M x −  r cos θ 2 + r (1 − 2 cos θ 2 )   × 1dθ 2  = 0 (17)
EI   2   2  

Taking transformation of Equation (17) attains

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4
[ 2M x − Prt + Prt cos ϕ ]ϕ = 0 (18)
EI
From Equation (18), one has

2M x
Pt = (19)
r (1 − cos ϕ )

Hereby, the tensile stiffness of FCS becomes

dPt
St = (20)

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dδ
Obviously, ϕ and r can be solved from Equations (6), (14) and (19), and the tensile deformation

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of the FCS can be obtained from Equation (4). In this way, the load versus displacement curve can

be established for the extended FCS subjected to a tensile load Pt in horizontal direction, and the

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relative deformation and tensile stiffness of the FCS in extensional process can be yielded by using

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Equations (5) and (20).
The tension stress in a ply in tangential direction of θ can be written as
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nEθk N nEθk Pt
σ θk = Eθk ε θ + n
= Eθk εθ + n
(21)
t0 ∑ Eθ k
2t0 ∑ Eθ k
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k =1 k =1

Transforming the off-axis stress σ θk into the principal stresses, one has
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σ 1k   cos 2 φ sin 2 φ 2sin φ cos φ  σ θk 

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 k   
σ 2  =  sin φ cos 2 φ −2sin φ cos φ   0 
2
(22)
 k   − sin φ cos φ sin φ cos φ cos 2 φ − sin 2 φ   0 
τ 12  
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Due to the symmetric characteristic of the structure and external loads, only tangential stress
necessitates to be considered and other stresses are neglected in Equation (22).
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According to the Hill-Tsai criterion[33], a ply fails if the following condition is met, or
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2 2 2
 σ 1k  σ 1kσ 2k  σ 2k   τ 12k 
  − +  +  =1 (23)
 X  X2  Y   S 
Substituting Equation (22) into Equation (23) leads to:
2 2 2
 cos 2 φ   1 1  2  sin 2 φ   1 
 +  2 − 2  cos φ sin φ +   = k 
2
 (24)
 X  S X   Y   σθ 

Substituting Equation (21) into Equation (24), the tensile strength Ptf can be allowed by solving

equation (24). In order to guarantee that the FCS is elastically extended during the large

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deformation process and is of enough safety margins, quantitative design for the FCS is needed
based on Equation (24).

4 EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION FOR EXTENSIONAL DEFORMAITON

4.1 Material and specimen
Figure 6 shows the geometry and dimensions of the cross-section for the FCS specimens used in

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tensile test. The FCS specimens were made up of two thin-walled curved FRP composite shells with
the length 65 mm and the thickness of 0.4 mm. The ply orientation of the FRP composite shells

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[45/-45/0/-45/45] was chosen to ensure the flexibility along tensile direction and the stiffness in the

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transverse direction. The specific material was T300/5228A prepreg consolidated by using
vacuum-bag curing method. Detailed fabrication processes for the FCS specimen are as follows:

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The prepreg plies were stacked in the mould (shown in Figure 7a).
A vacuum bag was used to cover the prepreg pre-form (shown in Figure 7b).
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Vacuum curing process was carried out (shown in Figure 7c). The curing temperature is shown
in Figure 8, which was provided by the resin/prepreg supplier.
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The FCS shell was fabricated (shown in Figures 7d).

Two FCS shells were fixed in mould and the adhesive film J133 was used to co-bond the
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horizontal flanges of the FCS shells (shown in Figure 7e). The adhesive film J133 has been
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commonly applied in aeronautical field.

The moulds were clamped in order to co-bond the two FCS shells together (shown in Figure 7f).
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The bond was cured by heating up to 120 °C for two hours. After the curing process, the FCS
specimen was obtained (shown in Figure 7g).
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4.2 Tensile tests

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According to the ASTM standard[34], the tensile tests for three FCS specimens were conducted on an
INSTRON-500N servo-hydraulic machine at a displacement rate of 2 mm/min in a dry state and at
room temperature. Figure 9 shows the loading direction and boundary conditions in all tests. The
experimental load versus displacement curves for the FCS specimens are shown in Figure 10. All
tested FCS specimens recovered their original shape and no observable material damage was found
after tensile test. During tensile tests, all specimens were loaded and unloaded several times in a
short time. The maximum length and height were measured for estimating the recovery ratio to the
original shape. These dimensions were changed after repeated loading and unloading. From Figure
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10, it is clear that tensile load versus displacement curves for the FCS specimens are almost
identical in extensional deformation process only with a small scatter. Based on the measured load
versus displacement curves shown in Figure 10, and Equations (5) and (20), the experimental
tensile stiffness versus tensile load curves and the relative deformation versus tensile load curves
were determined (shown in Figures 11 and 12). From Figures 10, 11 and 12, it is obvious that a
nonlinear characteristic exists on the tensile load versus displacement curves, the tensile stiffness

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versus tensile load curves and the relative deformation versus tensile load curves. The tensile
stiffness increases with tensile load, and the relative deformation corresponding to a tensile load 40

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N nearly reaches the maximum value of 20%, in other words, the FCS specimen was completely
flattened (shown in Figure 9).

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4.3 Comparisons and discussion
From Figures 10, 11 and 12, it can be seen that all the predicted curves using the analytical

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solutions presented in this paper have a reasonably good agreement with the experiments. The
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predicted curves indicate the similar nonlinear characteristic of mechanical responses for the FCS
in tensile process. This agrees with the experimental results from the tensile tests. Moreover, the
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FCS is idealized as the perfect elastic elastomer in the model, which is stiffer than the practical
FCS specimens. Thus, there is a slight but noticeable lateral shift between the predicted curve and
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experimental one.
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From Equations (24), the predicted tensile strength Ptf of the FCS is 146.12 N/mm. From Figure

10, the tensile load corresponding to a relative deformation of 20% is about 40 N. The
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experimental observations show that the FCS specimens were elastically extended without any
damages; this can be attributed to the maximum tensile load being far lower than the failure tensile
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load. Thus, the FCS still has much large potential in load bearing capacity in completely flattened
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state. Therefore, from the theoretical analysis and experimental validation, it is argued that the new
FCS design is effective and feasible. Figures 13 and 14 demonstrate the predicted tensile load
versus displacement curves with the changing of the shell thickness and radius of the FCS. From
Figures 13 and 14, it is apparent that thickness and radius of the FCS have a significant influence
on the tensile behaviours. Increasing the shell thickness, or decreasing the shell radius can cause
the increase of tensile stiffness.

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5 ANALYSIS OF OUT-OF-PLANE FLEXURAL STIFFNESS
Besides the in-plane large deformation function, the out-of-plane flexural stiffness is another key
property for a morphing skin subjected to an aerodynamic load. An ideal morphing skin is of low
in-plane stiffness (i.e. large global strain capability) to minimize the actuation requirements, and of
high out-of-plane stiffness to minimize the deformation under aerodynamic load. The skin concept
presented in this paper results in a high level of surface roughness on the wing due to its varying

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thickness. This would be problematic aerodynamically for use in span extension and active camber
applications. Tied to this is a scaling effect: the “roughness” of the skin could be reduced by making

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the unit cell size small. From Figure 14, it is evident that the in-plane stiffness would increase as the

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unit cell size decreased. As a result, it is necessary to investigate the effect of the unit cell size (i.e.
shell radius) on the out-of-plane bending stiffness. Figure 15 shows the longitudinal and transverse

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flexures of the FCS. Based on the geometry of the FCS (shown in Figure 2), the longitudinal and
transverse flexural stiffness of the FCS with multiple unit cells can be respectively written as
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M l ncell ( 2 w + 4r0 sin ϕ0 )
Dl = (25)
L ∆α l
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Mt L
Dt = (26)
∆α t ncell ( 2w + 4r0 sin ϕ0 )
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Using Equations (25) and (26) and the FE models by using AQBAQUS code, the longitudinal and
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transverse flexural stiffness of the FCS with multiple unit cells can be calculated. In the FE models,
the material properties are experimentally determined (listed in Table 1), the ply orientation of the
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FCS shells is [45/-45/0/-45/45], the shell thickness is 0.4 mm and the length L is 500 mm. Three
shell radii values 25 mm, 30 mm and 34 mm are used to analyze the size effect. The FE analysis are
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conducted on the out-of-plane flexural stiffness of the FCS with an individual unit cell and multiple
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unit cells. Figure 16 and Table 2 show the flexural deformation and flexural stiffness of the FCS.
Table 2 illustrates that the calculated results of the FCS using an individual unit cell and multiple
unit cells are almost identical. The transverse flexural stiffness is much higher than the longitudinal
flexural stiffness. The transverse flexural stiffness decreases with the decreasing shell radius. Since
the FCS has better out-of-plane flexural stiffness in transverse direction, higher external loads (e.g.
the bending moment in span direction) can be arranged along this direction on a morphing wing.
In summary, the FCS could be made much smoother by decreasing the unit cell size, the in-plane

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stiffness increases, whereas the out-of-plane flexural stiffness in transverse direction decreases with
the decreasing unit cell size. In engineering application, based on the specific requirements, the
mechanical properties the FCS have to be weighed to realize an optimal design scheme, through
appropriate choosing the constituent material properties, ply stacking sequence, structural
geometrical configuration and dimensions, etc.

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6 CONCLUSIONS
The focus of this paper has been to develop a novel FCS with a large deformation capability and

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sufficient mechanical properties, as well as light-weight. Theoretical and experimental methods are

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employed to assess and validate the mechanical properties and functional mechanism of the FCS.
Significant results emerging from the studies are as follows:

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(1) A novel FCS design constructed of curved thin-walled CFRP shells is presented to significantly
change the area through elastic extensional deformation
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(2) An analytical model is established for assessing the mechanical properties (e.g. stiffness,
strength and relative deformation, etc.) of the FCS in a large extensional deformation process.
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(3) A nonlinear characteristic exists on all load-displacement curves, tensile stiffness-tensile load
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curves and relative deformation versus tensile load curves. The tensile stiffness increases with
the increasing tensile load, and the relative deformation of the FCS specimen nearly reaches the
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maximum value of 20% at the tensile load of about 40 N (i.e., the FCS specimen is almost
completely flattened).
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(4) The predictions correlate very well with the experimental results. Theoretical and experimental
results demonstrate that the completely flattened FCS still has the large potential in load bearing
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capacity.
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(5) The transverse flexural stiffness is much higher than the longitudinal flexural stiffness. The
transverse flexural stiffness decreases with the decreasing shell radius. Since the FCS has better
out-of-plane flexural stiffness in transverse direction, higher external loads can be arranged
along this direction on a morphing wing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.
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51405006 and 51375033).

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(a) Original state

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(b) Extensional state

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(c) Flattening state

Figure 1 Functional mechanism of the flexible composite skin

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Figure 2 Geometry of FCS under tensile load in extensional deformation

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Figure 3 Unit cell of FCS in extensional deformation

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Figure 4 Cross-section of a laminate

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Figure 5 Restraint forces of the extended FCS shell

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Figure 6 Geometry and dimentions of the FCS specimen cross-section

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Figure 7 Preparation processes for the FCS specimen

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Figure 8 Curing temperature of vacuum bag process
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Figure 9 Tensile test

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Figure 10 Tensile load versus displacement

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Figure 11 Tensile stiffness versus tensile load

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Figure 12 Relative deformation versus tensile load

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Figure 13 Predicted tensile load versus displacement with the changing of thickness
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Figure 14 Predicted tensile load versus displacement with the changing of radius
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(a) Longitudinal flexure

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(b) Transverse flexure

Figure 15 Out-of-plane flexure of the FCS

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(a) Longitudinal flexure

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(b) Transverse flexure

Figure 16 Out-of-plane flexural deformation of the FCS
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Table 1 Specifications and properties of the FCS

E1 / GPa 80.08 r0 / mm 33.8

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E2 / GPa 6.67 t0 / mm 0.4

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v12 0.344 W0 / mm 117.8

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G12 / GPa 2.93 L / mm 65

X / MPa 1063.48 ϕ0 / rad π/3

Y / MPa 65.99 w / mm 5

S / MPa 126.76

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Table 2 Out-of-plane flexural stiffness of the FCS

Individual unit cell Multiple unit cells

Shell radius
Dl (N ⋅ m) Dt (N ⋅ m) Dl (N ⋅ m) Dt (N ⋅ m)

25mm 0.915 3592 0.910 3593

30mm 0.767 6105 0.762 6113

34mm 0.679 8702 0.679 8696

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