Deflection control of laminated composite beams with piezoceramic layers - closed form solutions

The three coupled equations of motion of a general non-symmetric piezolaminated composite beam subjected to axial and lateral tractions and its corresponding boundary conditions are derived using a variational approach. The displacement field is based on a first-order shear deformation theory. The static shape control is performed using either continuous piezoceramic layers or patches embedded or bonded to the surface of the beam structure. Closed form solutions for the bending angle and the axial lateral displacements along the beam are presented for various configurations of lay-up, boundary conditions and mechanical loading. A closed-loop approach is then applied to control the lateral deflection of an axially loaded piezolaminated beam based on the measurement of the average bending slope. The method yields good and consistent results. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.