Development of SMA Based Smart Trimming Surface for Typical Civil Aircraft Applications

This document details the work carried out in the design and development of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) based actuator for trim-tab actuation. The main objective is to replace the existing servo-motor actuator for the trim-tab with an SMA based actuator. This effort is to eliminate the problem of jamming which is very common in servo-motor actuators. Here an antagonistic scheme of SMA actuation, using two wires where one wire biases the other, is being employed since the trim tab is to be deployed in top as well as bottom direction. The elevator was modified to house the SMA based actuation mechanism. The necessary electronics and software has been developed to actuate and control the trim tab at any required position. Static analysis is carried out in MSC Nastran for making the necessary modification in the elevator to house the mechanism. The peak strains in experiment and analysis have matched well