Shape-Morphing Structures: from design to experimental testing
If the geometry of a structure could be morphed at will, its efficiency and functionality would be greatly improved. For example, an aircraft wing has different optimal shapes for varying velocities; if one could constantly transform the wing structure to respond to the flying conditions, its efficiency would be significantly improved. The same holds true in other fields of Structural Engineering; indeed, efficiency is not only limited to aerodynamics but could also include incidence of light in adaptive solar panels, deployable surfaces, energy harvesting or light control in buildings.
Despite morphing structures being spreading in some areas of architecture and structural engineering, much remains to be done to properly design and implement these systems. In particular, the current research project focuses on designing and realizing shape-morphing structural elements using shells. Indeed, by exploiting displacement amplifications due to geometrical nonlinearities, suitably designed and actuated shells turn out to be a cheap way to get structural systems capable of considerable shape changes. Specifically we will examine several case studies from the theoretical/modelling phase up to the solution of technological problems related to their actual manufacturing.
The research group has more thant ten years of experience and world-wide scientific collaborations in the fields of shape morphing structures, as well as industrial partnerships interested to develop structural morphing technologies.