Analytical and experimental studies of smart materials and structures incorporating embedded piezoelectric actuators and fiber optic sensors

The thrust of this research has been to develop powerful models for characterizing sensor and actuator behavior, and to construct demonstration articles for assessing and quantifying the performance of advanced embedded actuators and sensors. Powerful finite elements have been developed to model the sensor and actuator behavior for use in designing smart systems. The capability exists to accurately model fiberoptic sensors, piezoelectric material behavior, and shape memory alloy material behavior in both static and dynamic applications. These finite elements were written for use with the ABAQUS computer code. Real-time data interaction with the code allows active control simulations to be conducted. Existing control theories have been used to analytically simulate response control of randomly excited structures. In addition, both thermoset and thermoplastic composite structures with embedded piezoelectric actuators were fabricated. These structures will be used as benchmarks to evaluate our smart structure manufacturing capabilities. The manufacturing methods presented here have addressed the issues of sensor / actuator survivability, sensor / actuator integration, and process conditioning. Finally, the results for all tests are qualified and compared, and the implications for their relationship to future platforms are discussed.© (1994) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.