Modeling of a coupled fluid-structure system excited by piezoelectric actuators

Structural vibrations can have severe consequences on airplane design like fatigue, aeroelastic instability and reduced maneuverability. Fuel sloshing inside wing tanks can increase these problems. This work is intended to model a system that consists of a cantilever aluminum plate with a fluid tank near the free tip. Piezoelectric patches are used to excite the system. Three different methodologies were used to obtain a state-space model of the system: analytical (exact) solutions of simplified problems, numerical approximated methods and system identification techniques. Results show good agreement between theory and experiments.