To fully utilize the potential of smart structural technology and to reduce the time and cost of development a systematic simulation, design and evaluation, and prototype refinement of these structures is required. This systematic design and refinement process can only be materialized with a robust, effective, and user friendly simulation tools. This R &D effort is geared toward this direction with the following objectives:Accurate simulation of shape memory alloys and piezoelectric components as sensors and actuators. Accurate presentation of the kinematics of multilayered smart structures with special application to composite laminates. Accurate modeling of coupled mechanical, electrical, and thermal interactions of sensors and actuators with the host material in smart structures. Synthesizing control algorithms for active shape control and vibration stabilization and noise reduction. Active shape control design of composite plates and shells using memory alloys. Predicting effectiveness of active structures for real world application and recommending improvements.
Potential Commercial Applications:The simulation package will have tremendous commercial application in aerospace, mechanical, civil , and medical engineering. It will be used as a tool in addressing critical issues of today's smart structure technology such as scaling versus full size structures and cost effectiveness. As a design tool it will provide modeling of structures for controllability, vibration attenuation, static adjustment and active shape control.
