The use of smart materials to actively control flutter in anisotropic composite panels was examined. An analytical model of an anisotropic panel that can accommodate the effects of the induced strain actuators and supersonic aerodynamics and gust effects was developed. Control design was accomplished with a state-space model that incorporates linear quadratic optimal control. The piezoelectric material lead zirconate titinate was used for the actuators, while various composites and aluminum materials made up the different test panels. The distribution of actuators on the faces on the panel were studied. Actuators segmented in the direction of the airstream were found to be most effective in controlling flutter for square panels; however, actuators should be distributed in both the flow and cross-flow directions for panels with different aspect ratios. A relatively small number of actuators can provide excellent flutter suppression; increasing the number of actuators beyond this amount provides little improvement in flutter speed. The anisotropic characteristics of the composite panels cause some variations in the behavior of the panel as compared to isotropic panels. A design comparison revealed that actively controlled panels provide superior flutter performance to passively controlled panels.

Date Published: 8 September 1993
PDF: 14 pages
Proc. SPIE 1917, Smart Structures and Materials 1993: Smart Structures and Intelligent Systems, (8 September 1993);

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1917:
Smart Structures and Materials 1993: Smart Structures and Intelligent Systems
Nesbitt W. Hagood; Gareth J. Knowles, Editor(s)