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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 0 1 8 1 8 and Boeing really showed outstanding performance,” says Jim Mabe, Techni- cal Fellow with Boeing Research and Technology. “From the time we started initial testing here at Boeing, up to the flight tests, the material behaved con- sistently stable, and showed a superior performance to previous materials.” FLIGHT TESTING To test the technology, NASA turned to Area-I to operate a remote- ly-controlled flight testbed called Prototype Technology-Evaluation Re- search Aircraft (PTERA). PTERA was de- signed and built by Area-I, which was also involved in the design and inte- gration of a shape memory alloy-actu- ated, wing-folding mechanism for the aircraft. The small-scale unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) features extensive flight instrumentation ideal for gather- ing data on SAW, as well as the ability to accommodate newly-designed wings for testing. Area-I personnel conducted flight operations for the test, allowing NASA and Boeing to focus on research during the flights. “PTERA was developed as a flying laboratory, and was used in this flight series to host the SAW experiment,” says Area-I CEO Nicholas Alley. SAW test flights were conducted over a two-day period. PTERA took off from Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base with its wings at a level 0° deflection. The test- bed was flown in a large racetrack pat- tern, providing long legs of flight in which the necessary maneuvers for the research could be done. During these movements, onboard controllers heat- ed and cooled the SAW actuators, fold- ing the wing panels to different angles between 0° and 70°. For the first two flights, wing tips were rigged to fold downward, while later flights featured rearranging the hardware to achieve 70° upward de- flection. Wing-folding maneuvers were achieved in flight within three minutes each. Follow-on SAW flights are planned for as early as this summer, which will expand the functionality of the SAW system to be able to fold wings 70° both up and down in a single flight. Tests are also expected to take place at NASA Glenn, where engineers are working to scale up the technology flown on PTERA to be used on the wing of an F-18. “We put the SAW technology through a real flight environment, and these flights not only proved that we can fly with this technology, but they validated how we went about integrat- ing it,” says Moholt. “We will use the data from these flights to continue to PTERA flies over the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center with the outer portions of its wings folded 70° upwards. The aircraft took off with its wings at 0° deflection. Wings were folded during flight using a thermally-triggered shape memory alloy developed at NASA Glenn Research Center and integrated into an actuator at Boeing Research & Technology. Courtesy of Area-I Inc. improve upon the actuation system, in- cluding speed and smoothness of actu- ally folding the wings, and we’ll apply them as we get ready to fly again later this year.” ~AM&P For more information: Story and im- ages courtesy of www.nasa.gov . For questions regarding SMST, contact Oth- mane Benafan, SMST vice president, at othmane.benafan@nasa.gov. SMST AND CASMART PARTNERSHIP PROMOTES SHAPE MEMORY ALLOY TECHNOLOGY In 2016, ASM’s affiliate society, the International Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies (SMST), teamed up with the Consor- tium for the Advancement of Shape Memory Alloy Research and Technology (CASMART). As a small international organization of leading players in the shape memory alloy (SMA) actuation field, CASMART was established in 2006 by gov- ernment, university, and industry participants to promote the growth and adop- tion of SMA actuation technologies. SMST and CASMART share similar goals, in particular furthering SMA tech- nology and disseminating relevant technical work on materials with shape memory properties. By working together, the two organizations are foster- ing cross-organizational collaboration and knowledge sharing. In recent years, CASMART activities have included publishing papers on SMA actuation design and modeling methods, identifying best practices for shape memory effect characterization, and exploring high-temperature SMAs, particularly the NiTiHf material system. For more information, contact Othmane Benafan, CASMART ex- ecutive chairman and SMST vice president, at othmane.benafan@nasa.gov .