MIT is working with NASA to build and test a new kind of airplane wing that is assembled from hundreds of tiny, identical pieces that can change shape to control the plane’s flight. The wing could provide a significant boost in aircraft production, flight and maintenance efficiency, as well as give greater flexibility in the design and manufacturing of future aircraft, researchers said.

The assembly system of the prototype wing makes it possible to deform the whole wing by integrating a mix of stiff and flexible components in its structure, unlike current wings that require separate moveable surfaces to control the roll and pitch of the plane.

The tiny identical pieces are bolted together to form a lattice framework that is covered with a thin layer of similar polymer material. The structure is composed mostly of empty space and it forms a mechanical “metamaterial” that combines the stiffness of a rubber-like polymer and the light weight and low density of an aerogel. The wing is much lighter and more energy efficient than traditional wings that are made from metal or composites.

The prototype airplane wing after being assembled. Source: MITResearchers said that having a deformable wing ould provide a configuration for each phase of flight—takeoff and landing, cruising and maneuvering.

“We’re able to gain efficiency by matching the shape to the loads at different angles of attack,” said Nicholas Cramer, research engineer at NASA. “We’re able to produce the exact same behavior you would do actively, but we did it passively.”

The prototype version was hand-assembled by a team, but future versions could be assembled by a swarm of small, simple, autonomous assembly robots.

The parts were created using injection molding with polyethylene resin in a 3D mold, which in about 17 seconds produces a hollow cube made up of matchstick-size struts. The lattice of parts have a density of 5.6 kg/m³; for comparison, rubber has a density of about 1,500 kg/m³.

With the new prototype wing, any geometry could be used for future aircraft wings and fuselages, creating different possibilities, researchers said. In fact, some studies have shown that integrating the body and wing structure could be far more efficient than traditional aircraft, and with this type of wing a different type of aircraft could be easily built, tested, modified and retested, researchers said. The most promising near-term applications are structural applications for airships and space-based structures such as antennas. The prototype wing could be applied to other structures as well, such as blades for wind turbines, or for future space structures where on-site assembly could solve transportation issues.

The full research can be found in the journal Smart Materials and Structures.