GEOMETRICAL NONLINEAR ANALYSIS OF COMPOSITE PLATE

The application of piezoelectric actuators for static shape control composite plate is investigated in this thesis. Electro - mechanically coupled mathematical model is used for the analysis. The major section of this thesis is the static shape control. Shap e control is defined here as the determination of shape control parameters, including actuation voltage and actuator orientation configuration, such that the structure that is activated using these parameters will conform as close as possible to the desire d shape. A finite element model for shape control analysis of piezoelectric laminated composite plate using Ansys is presented in this thesis. Piezoelectric actuators and sensors are modeled as additional layers either to be surface bonded or embedded in t he laminated composite plate. A finite element software Ansys is used to model and was successfully validated with experimental and numerical results that are readily available in the literatures. The present analysis shows that with the application of app ropriate voltage to piezoelectric actuator, desired shape of the composite plate can be obtained .