Optimization of piezoelectric material distribution in smart structures

摘要

The paper first presents a general purpose finite element based simulation tool for piezoelectric controlled smart structures. In addition to the standard finite elements, this tool contains a number of coupled electromechanical finite elements as well as numerical tools to simulate controlled structures in statics and dynamics. The effectiveness of a smart structure decisively depends on the amount and distribution of active materials across the passive structure and on the controller design. To solve this design problem automatically, a discrete optimization technique and ideas from topology optimization are presented. The control parameters are considered as continuous design variables. Mathematical solution algorithms for non-linear, mixed continuous and discrete-valued optimization techniques are used to solve the optimization problem. As a test example the distribution of piezoelectric wafers over a beam structure is presented. Finally, this paper gives an outlook for new developments in this field.