Piezoelectric actuator orientation optimization for static shape control of composite plates

A heuristic and intuitive algorithm is presented for the determination of the orientation of piezoelectric actuator patches in the application to shape control of smart structures. The fundamental concept of this approach is similar to another method developed by the same authors for voltage optimization, but the implementation of the current algorithm is significantly different. The mathematical model of the smart structure is based on a high order displacement (HOD) field coupled with a layerwise linear electric potential. The current shape control work will make use of the finite element formulation based on the above-mentioned mathematical model. The performance of the shape control algorithm were examined via the least squares errors in terms of displacements, slopes and curvatures as well as electrical input and effective anisotropy of actuators. The results show that the shape conformity of certain structural configurations were improved considerably by the application of the orientation shape control algorithm.