Adaptive modeling and shape control of laminated plates using piezoelectric actuators

Adaptive modeling and shape control of laminate plates with piezoelectric actuators is discussed in this report. The influence of piezoelectric actuators and position sensors is studied for shape control under varying unknown loads. A finite element formulation is developed for modeling the dynamic and static response of laminated plates containing discrete piezoelectric ceramics subjected to both mechanical and electrical loadings. The numerical results on the shape control show that the stresses induced by piezoceramic may significantly affect the mechanical behavior of the plate. Actuators are modeled as additional plies completely integrated into substrate laminate. The purpose of this paper is to present the effectiveness of using piezoelectric elements to control the flexural composite plates by inducing internal stresses. Free-end deflection of a composite plate with different location of mechanical load was studied analytically and experimentally. Composite plates with bending–twist and extension–twist couplings were presented. Piezoceramic structure may be designed to tune the deformation of composite plates. The modeling and validation results show the reliability of the piezoactuation for the shape control of laminated plates.