The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

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

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

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.

Bayesian optimisation, Keywords:, aeroelastic, cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW), finite element analysis, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)
0001-9240
Huang, Mingzhi
b834eb10-fc1f-4dd0-9bae-bb5d875e185f
Yuan, J.
4bcf9ce8-3af4-4009-9cd0-067521894797
Leitch, H.
77135147-af97-4367-9b5b-36f984c6d654
Scarpa, F.
684472c3-1a28-478a-a388-5fd896986c1d
Huang, Mingzhi
b834eb10-fc1f-4dd0-9bae-bb5d875e185f
Yuan, J.
4bcf9ce8-3af4-4009-9cd0-067521894797
Leitch, H.
77135147-af97-4367-9b5b-36f984c6d654
Scarpa, F.
684472c3-1a28-478a-a388-5fd896986c1d

Huang, Mingzhi, Yuan, J., Leitch, H. and Scarpa, F. (2025) Analysis and optimisation of cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW) structures for enhanced aeroelastic performance. The Aeronautical Journal. (doi:10.1017/aer.2025.10073).

Record type: Article

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.

Text
cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW) 1 - Accepted Manuscript
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (1MB)
Text
analysis-and-optimisation-of-cellular-kirigami-wingbox-ckw-structures-for-enhanced-aeroelastic-performance - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (1MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 26 August 2025
Published date: 17 September 2025
Keywords: Bayesian optimisation, Keywords:, aeroelastic, cellular Kirigami wingbox (CKW), finite element analysis, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 505581
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/505581
ISSN: 0001-9240
PURE UUID: ef94549d-2451-43d6-b79d-fefc396e0406
ORCID for J. Yuan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2411-8789

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Oct 2025 16:43
Last modified: 15 Oct 2025 02:10

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Mingzhi Huang
Author: J. Yuan ORCID iD
Author: H. Leitch
Author: F. Scarpa

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×