Analysis and optimisation of cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW) structures for enhanced aeroelastic performance

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Huang, M. and Yuan, J. and Leitch, H. and Scarpa, F. (2025) Analysis and optimisation of cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW) structures for enhanced aeroelastic performance. Aeronautical Journal, 130 (1343). pp. 192-208. ISSN 0001-9240 (https://doi.org/10.1017/aer.2025.10073)

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Abstract

Cellular structures provide lightweight, high-strength and excellent structural stability due to their repetitive modular unit design. By integrating cutting and folding Kirigami techniques with composite and plastic substrates, cellular configurations can significantly enhance the aero-mechanical performance of wing designs. This innovative structural technology shows great promise for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), enabling flexible control and dynamic flight capabilities to meet varying operational conditions. This study presents an analysis and optimisation of the aeroelastic behaviour of cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW) structures for multifunctional operations of micro-UAV wings to ensure stability and resilience in various dynamic flight conditions. The effect of thickness and internal cell angle of the cellular structure on static and dynamic aeroelastic behaviour is assessed through finite element analysis. By incorporating Bayesian optimisation, the multi-disciplinary design space of the cellular UAV wings has been efficiently explored to achieve optimal structural performance for adaptive UAV wings. The results show that Bayesian optimisation effectively identifies optimal design parameters for different multi-objective design weights, which improves the aeroelastic performance of the CKW structure.

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