Thermally-driven snap-through and multistability using laminated fibre-metal shells

Fibre-metal laminated shells possessing initial cylindrical curvature are and experimentally tested. These shells display thermally-driven snap-through behaviour, that is, they abruptly snap to new shapes by sole application of thermal loading. Additionally, the shells display deadband hysteretic behaviour, snapping at different temperatures depending on whether they are heated or cooled. This behaviour is broadly similar to several existing approaches towards thermal snap-through, however the physical mechanism utilized herein is distinctly different. This fact, combined with the use of composite materials, yields a concept which is free from the extensive geometric limitations of current thermal snap-through approaches, and thus may be potentially useful in morphing and fluid control applications. Experimental results are compared to two contemporary analytical multistability models as well as a finite element model.