Modares Mechanical Engineering

Modares Mechanical Engineering

Numerical Simulation of Flexible Composite Skin Bending in Morphing Wings Using the Radial Point Interpolation Mesh free Method: Comparison with Experimental Results

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
morteza Shakibaseresht 1
Mahmood Zabihpoor 2
keramat malekzadeh 2
jafar eskandari jam 1
1 Aerospace Engineering Department, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
2 Aerospace Engineering Department, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
10.48311/mme.2025.96923.0
Abstract
In this study, the bending of a flexible composite shell (with an elastomeric matrix) used in a morphing wing skin is analyzed numerically, and the numerical results are compared with those of a reputable experimental study conducted on the bending behavior of this shell. First, the governing equations are derived using the total potential energy minimization method and the Euler–Lagrange equations, resulting in highly nonlinear differential equations. To discretize these equations, the strong-form meshfree Radial Point Interpolation Method(RPIM) is employed, and the Newton–Raphson method is used to obtain the numerical solution of the nonlinear equations. The boundary conditions are considered clamped on all four edges. In this analysis, the effects of pretension forces as well as out-of-plane loads on the maximum displacement of the composite shell are investigated. Comparison of the meshfree numerical results with the experimental data shows that the proposed numerical solution has good accuracy and exhibits only a small deviation from the experimental results
Keywords
Mesh Free Method
Strong Form
Shape Function
Influence Domain
Subjects

 

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Modares Mechanical Engineering
Volume 25, Issue 12
December 2025
Pages 773-783