Biomimetic skeleton structure of morphing nose cone for aerospace vehicle inspired by variable geometry mechanism of honeybee abdomen

Aerospace vehicle containing aeronautics and astronautics function realizes completely reusable, which is the key weapon for the future world countries to fight for air and space control power. However, the current nose cone of aerospace plane cannot respond optimally to the changes in the external environment. The constant structure of nose cone also greatly reduces the range of motion and flexibility. In this paper, a biomimetic skeleton structure of morphing nose cone inspired by variable geometry mechanism of honeybee abdomen is designed, which can achieve stretching and bending continuously. Based on the screw theory, the degree of freedom of morphing nose cone is calculated. Then a prototype of biomimetic skeleton structure with six segments for the morphing nose cone has been manufactured. Further, the simulation analysis and experimental test of the morphing nose cone are conducted respectively to evaluate the deformation ability and dynamic performance. The results show that deformation ability of the morphing nose cone meets the design requirements. The flexibility of drive mechanism in the morphing nose cone causes high-frequency components, which greatly reduces its dynamic performance. This research provides the way to develop a theoretical analysis and experimental support for the design of morphing nose cone for aerospace vehicle.