Optimal placement of active bars in smart structures

Piezoelectric active structural elements with built-in sensing and actuation function and feedback control are used to suppress vibration in adaptive truss structures. The optimal placement of these active members is an important issue, which should be addressed in the design of adaptive truss structures. The nearly optimal placement of active members is consistently treated through the use of the dissipating control energy over infinite time interval within the framework of the simulated annealing algorithm. Illustrative example is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this methodology.