Active Control of Geometrically Non-linear Transient Response of Smart Laminated Composite Plate Integrated with AFC Actuator and PVDF Sensor

A coupled electromechanical finite element formulation for active control of geometrically non-linear transient response of laminated composite plate is studied. First-order shear deformation theory and von Karman type non-linear strain displacements are used. The plate is discritized using eight-noded quadratic isoparametric elements with five mechanical degrees of freedom and one electrical degree of freedom per node. Newton-Raphson iterative method in association with Newmark time integration method is used to solve the non-linear finite element equilibrium equation. Negative velocity feedback control algorithm is used to control the dynamic response of the smart laminated composite plate. AFC layer poled in fiber direction acting as distributed actuator and PVDF layer poled in thickness direction acting as sensor are considered. This study involves two types of actuator sensor arrangements: (1) the substrate is sandwiched between AFC actuator and PVDF sensor, called non-collocated arrangement and (2) AFC actuator and PVDF sensor are placed on top of the substrate, called collocated arrangement. The effect of piezoelectric fiber orientation in actuator layer on vibration control for both cross-ply and angle-ply laminates are examined.