Refined models for the optimal design of adaptive structures using simulated annealing

This paper deals with refined finite element models based on higher-order displacement fields applied to the mechanical and electrical behavior of laminated composite plate structures with embedded and/or surface bonded piezoelectric actuators and sensors. Simulated annealing, a stochastic global optimization technique is implemented to find the optimal location of piezoelectric actuators in order to maximize its efficiency. The same technique is also used to solve optimization problems of piezolaminated plate structures where the discrete design variables are the ply orientation angles of orthotropic layers. The implemented scheme helps to recover from the premature convergence to a local optimum, without the need of reinitiating the optimal design process, as it is the case of the gradient-based methods with continuous design variables. To show the performance of the proposed optimization methods, two illustrative and simple examples are presented and discussed.