SHAPE CONTROL OF COMPOSITE FRAMES UNDER

UNCERTAIN THERMAL AND MECHANICAL LOADS

USING PIEZOELECTRIC ACTUATORS
S. Adali1, I. S. Sadek2, J. C. Bruch3, Jr., and J. M. Sloss4, I. U. Cagdas1
1
School of Mechanical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa
2
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE
3
Dept. of Mechanical and Environ. Engr., University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
4
Department of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

KEYWORDS: Optimal piezo patch sizes, uncertain loading, minimum deflection, composite
frame structures.

INTRODUCTION

Loads acting on a structure are often not known a priori resulting in load uncertainties which in
turn can lead to unexpected deformations if not taken into consideration at the design stage.
Designs based on deterministic loading conditions become ineffective under uncertain loads
leading to unexpected failures. In the present study the deflection of a composite frame subject
to uncertain loads is controlled using piezoelectric actuators.

The particular problem involves a clamped-free L-shaped frame subject to an uncertain tip load
which may act in any direction within a 90 degree angle as shown in Fig. 1. Temperature
difference between the top and bottom of the frame can also causes thermal deflection. In this
case the thermal load is uncertain in the sense that it may act to cause positive or negative
deflection. The objective is to minimize the horizontal and vertical tip deflections with the
uncertain load direction and the thermal load determined such that they maximize the deflection.
Moreover the effect of the fiber content on the deflection and weight of the composite frame is
studied. Two piezo actuators are attached to each arm of the frame and the size and location of
each actuator is determined optimally such that the tip deflections are minimized.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

The horizontal and vertical loads PH and PV acting at point C are uncertain in the sense that they
belong to the uncertainty domain U given by

{
U 1 = PH , PV ; PH , PV ≥ 0 ; PH2 + PV2 ≤ P 2 } (1)

U 2 = {PH , PV ; PH , PV ≥ 0 ; 0 ≤ PH , PV ≤ P} (2)

as shown in Figure 2. The actuator patches of lengths b1 and b2 are bonded on both sides of the
section AB and BC with their mid-points at a distance a1 from point A and a2 from point B.
When activated, the actuator patches generate moments of m1 and m2 concentrated at the end
points of the patches. Let HC and VC denote the horizontal and vertical deflections of point C
due to actuator patches, and δH(PH, PV, PT) and δV(PH, PV, PT) horizontal and vertical deflections
due to loads PH and PV and the thermal load PT.

Figure 1. Geometry of the frame and Figure 2. Uncertain load domains

the piezo patch actuators

The deterministic design problem is stated as

min d H (b ) = min δ H (b; P ) + H C (b ) (3)
b b

min d V (b ) = min δ V (b; P ) + VC (b ) (4)

b b

where b and P are the design and load vectors given by b = (b1 , b2 ), P = (PH , PV , PT ) . In the
case of the uncertain design problem, the minimum deflection problems can be stated as
min max d H (b; P ) , min max dV (b; P ) (5)
b P∈U i b P∈U i

where i=1 or 2 and Ui is given by Eqns.(1) and (2). A recent work on the uncertainty design of
columns is given in Ref. 1.
Acknowledgments: This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award
No. INT-9906092 and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under Award No. NND04AB82C and
Stirling Dynamics, Inc.

REFERENCES

1. Adali S, Lene F, Duvaut G, and Chiaruttini V., “Optimization of laminated composites

subject to uncertain buckling loads”, Composite Structures, Vol. 62, No. 3-4, 2003,
pp.261-269.