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NASA and Boeing fold F-18 wing part using only shape memory alloy-driven actuator

Editor's Note: Please watch the video. It contains details central to the story.

Bye bye motors! Engineers from NASA's Glenn Research Center, NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, and Boeing successfully used shape memory alloys (SMA) to move a full-sized wing section of an F/A-18 Hornet this past summer.

The 300-lb wing section was removed from an F/A-18 at NASA Armstrong in Edwards, CA, enabling the team to prove a full wing section could be folded using a newly developed nickel-titanium-hafnium high-temperature SMA torque-tube actuator. The actuator is capable of applying 5,000 in.-lb of torque.

Beginning at the horizontal position, the SMA mechanism was electrically heated and cooled on command to allow the wing to move 90 degrees up and down. More importantly, researchers were able to move the wing section to any selected position within that sweep with very precise control.

Testing using SMA actuators and the F/A-18 wing at NASA Glenn is continuing. The next step is to increase the SMA torque capability to 20,000 in.-lb, which will include both the leading and trailing edges of the wing section.

VIDEO

This successful test proved to be another milestone for NASA's Spanwise Adaptive Wing Project, which is studying the in-flight bending or shaping sections of an aircraft's wings. The ability to shape wings could increase aircraft performance by reducing weight and drag, while improving aircraft control.

Source: NASA Glenn Research Center

Published January 2019

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