Static Shape Control of Spacecraft Structural Elements Using Piezoelectric Actuators

This paper discusses piezoelectric actuators which are used in high precision structures in order to maintain static shape such as spacecraft antenna reflectors, sensor base structures, telescope etc. for its optimal performance, which is very challenging task. Surface errors are often introduced by pre-stress and thermal distortions due to temperature differences. In aerospace industry metals are replaced by composite materials for their improved structural properties, but when these materials subjected to large variation of temperature in space also yield small distortions because of Coefficient of Thermal expansion (CTE), which is different for constitutive materials present in its layer, even after using thermal insulations. So for these kinds of applications, smart structures involving attached piezoelectric actuators have been proposed earlier [1, 2]. A representative model is taken to study the application of piezoelectric materials in static deformation control. Linear piezoceramic materials are considered in this study. The behavior of piezoelectric material alone or in combination with other materials was analyzed by using Finite Element Method (FEM) through MSC® Marc Mentat software. Based on these simulation results, it was possible to better understanding the behaviour of piezoelectric material and thus to predict its optimum location, voltage range to obtain a better performance. This paper includes analysis results from other papers in order to validate our procedure and capability of MSC® Marc Mentat software; it also includes the contribution of different piezoelectric strain coefficients on the displacement in piezoelectric analysis. The developed simulation methodology and modeling can be applied to other types of linear piezoelectric materials.