Vibrations of Stiffened Composite Panels With Smart Materials

Abstract

A numerical study of the use of electrorheological (ER) fluids and piezoelectric (PZT) actuators to control random vibrations of stiffened composite panels is presented. Active control of stiffness and damping is provided by the ER fluids and direct feedback control is provided by the PZT’s. New forms of transfer matrices are developed to include the effects of these smart materials. The modal equations of an equivalent uniform panel are converted into state-space form and digital stochastic feedback control is implemented. PZT direct feedback control is compared with digital stochastic feedback control. Parametric studies quantify the effect of actuator size and number, and ER fluid action.