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)
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
17 September 2025
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).
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
Text
analysis-and-optimisation-of-cellular-kirigami-wingbox-ckw-structures-for-enhanced-aeroelastic-performance
- Version of Record
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
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Date deposited: 14 Oct 2025 16:43
Last modified: 15 Oct 2025 02:10
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Contributors
Author:
Mingzhi Huang
Author:
J. Yuan
Author:
H. Leitch
Author:
F. Scarpa
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