Honeycomb Structural Design and Optimization for Variable-swept Aircrafts

doi:10.3901/JME.260008

Abstract

Abstract: The honeycomb structure is widely used in the design of deforming aircraft because of its good in-plane deformation capacity and normal bearing capacity, enabling them to adapt to complex flight environments. In order to meet the design requirements of the morphing swept angle for small aspect ratio aircraft, a novel honeycomb structure that can deform along the polar coordinate system is proposed. The geometric model of the unit cell and the honeycomb are described in the polar coordinate system, and the variable scale characteristics are analyzed by introducing characteristic parameters. A finite element model is established to analyze the in-plane stiffness for circumferential deformation and the out-of-plane stiffness with normal load. Simulation results indicate that this structure can achieve a wide range of continuous deformation and possesses strong normal load-bearing capacity. In order to solve the multi-objective optimization of deformation and load-bearing capacity of the honeycomb structure, the impact of structural characteristic parameters on in-plane and out-of-plane stiffness is analyzed. A multi-objective genetic optimization algorithm based on expected hypervolume improvement (NSGAII-EHVI) is proposed to optimize the honeycomb structure, and the optimization results can provide a reference for the design of variable sweep wing structures.

Key words: variable-swept aircrafts, honeycomb, FEA, stiffness analysis, multi-objective optimization

CLC Number:

V423

LI Xianhang, PANG Yong, ZHANG Hairui, SONG Xueguan, YANG Jiayuan, FANG Weiguang. Honeycomb Structural Design and Optimization for Variable-swept Aircrafts[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2026, 62(1): 137-147.

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