Apparatus configured as a structure comprising a skin including a bond without a splice plate

An apparatus configured as a structure comprising a skin, the skin comprising:

• a stack comprising metal sheets;
• a first section comprising a first composite laminate, the first composite laminate connected to a top side of a frame of the structure, and bonded without a splice plate, to a first end of the stack;
• a second section comprising a second composite laminate, the second composite laminate connected to a bottom side of the frame, and bonded to a second end of the stack;
• and
• a composite-to-metal bond at each end of the stack configured as a finger lap joint, wherein each finger lap joint comprises four plies of composite laminate abutting each metal sheet in the stack, each metal sheet in the stack being:
• about 0.025 inches thick, and bonded to an adjacent metal sheet by a layer of adhesive, wherein the metal sheets and the first composite laminate are non-interleaving except in a first composite-to-metal joint at the first end of the stack, and wherein the metal sheets and the second composite laminate are non-interleaving except in a second composite-to-metal joint at the second end of the stack,
• wherein the first section, the stack, and the second section, form a monolithic shell for the structure,
• wherein the structure comprises a wing box, and the metal sheets form a leading edge of a wing comprising the wing box, the leading edge being able to withstand, without material failure, at least twice an impact force relative to an alternate leading edge comprising only a composite skin, and
• wherein the stack comprises a shape memory alloy that changes, in response to a trigger, a shape of an edge of the structure.