A type of piezoceramic composite actuator commonly known as Macro-Fiber Composite (MFC) is used for actuation in a variable camber airfoil design. First, a distributed parameter electromechanical model is proposed to predict the structural response to voltage actuation of clamped-free thin cantilevered beams. The structural frequency response behavior is investigated experimentally for cantilevered unimorph MFC actuated benders with aluminum, brass and steel substrate materials of different

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... knesses. Second, the study focuses on actuation modeling and response characterization under aerodynamic loads for flat plate airfoils with variable pinned boundary conditions. Thin unimorph/bimorph benders are pinned in two variable locations along the chordwise direction. Two extreme examples are: 1) Airfoil pinned at its leading edge and at its trailing edge; 2) A clamped-free airfoil. Any combination in between the two extremes is also evaluated for geometric and aerodynamic response. Finally, wind tunnel experiments are conducted on a 1.2% thick, 127 mm chord MFC actuated bimorph airfoil.