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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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4/28/94                 Mitch Emmons

AUBURN ENGINEERS ACHIEVE A FIRST IN 'SMART MATERIALS' FLIGHT

      AUBURN -- Auburn University aerospace engineers have successfully 
flown a completely solid-state aircraft that doesn't need traditional 
wing flaps and other moving parts for guidance.
      The avionic "first" makes use of wing structures crafted of 
so-called "smart" -- or adaptive -- materials, advanced composites that 
are capable of actively reshaping themselves in flight.
      Working with the departments of Electrical and Materials 
Engineering, AU technicians have completed the first successful 
controlled free flight of an aircraft made entirely of the adaptive 
materials.
      "We're the very first school to achieve flight control with smart 
structures," said Ron Barrett, an assistant professor in the Department 
of Aerospace Engineering.
      Weighing just 5.5 ounces, the AU aircraft also is one of the 
world's lightest remotely piloted gliders, Barrett said.
      Adaptive materials -- a name given to a group of specially 
developed plastics, ceramics and metals that are capable of changing 
their shape and other properties in response to some external stimulus -- 
are at the core of smart structures research at AU. By using these 
materials in the direction control features on an aircraft body, AU has 
proven that controlled flight without conventional wing and tail flaps, 
is possible.
      "The aircraft is maneuvered by pitching the vertical and 
horizontal tail pieces," Barrett said. "The degree of pitch is regulated 
by applying an electrical current directly to the structure. What we've 
managed to do is get rid of all of the clap-trap, the gears, the hinges, 
the bearings and to replace it with one solid-state piece."
      The result is a lighter, near maintenance-free and less expensive
aircraft.
      In addition to the radio-controlled aircraft -- fondly dubbed 
"Mothra" for a flying creature from the Godzilla movie series -- AU 
aerospace engineers have successfully used the materials in the control 
structures of helicopter rotor blades, in missile guidance fins and in 
laser scanning devices , such as those found in supermarket checkouts.
      "We've managed to accomplish with very little resources, 
something that a lot of other schools with much more R&D (research and 
development) support have been working unsuccessfully to achieve for 
years," Barrett said.
      The technology is one being watched with intense interest by the 
Air Force and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Barrett 
said.
      "We use these materials for applications in acoustics, 
aeroelasticity and vibration control," said Jennifer Heeg, a NASA 
research engineer. "Auburn's work probably is the most direct near-term 
application in terms of flight control using these materials. At NASA, 
we're keeping an eye on Auburn's work."
      Barrett says these smart structures also have shown promise for 
potential uses in medicine.
      "Surgical instruments and devices made of these materials might 
soon greatly improve the efficiency of surgical procedures," he said. 
"But there still is much to be done in terms of control refinement."
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april95:aumothra
CONTACT: Barrett, 334/844-4874.