In most man-made flight, vehicle control is achieved by deflecting flaps. However, in nature, morphing surfaces are found on both flying and swimming creatures. Morphing is used in nature because it is a more efficient form of control. This thesis investigates using morphing flaps to control a class of UAVs known as ducted fan vehicles. Specifically, this thesis discusses both the challenges and benefits of using morphing control surfaces. To achieve morphing, a piezoelectric device known as Macro Fiber Composites is used. These devices are embedded in the skin of the vehicles control surface, and when actuated, they cause the control surface to increase or decrease camber. This thesis describes experiments that were performed to investigate the performance of this type of actuator. Specifically, the actuation bandwidth of these devices is presented and compared to a servo. Results show that the morphing control surfaces can actuate at frequencies twice as high as a servo. / Master of Science

Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia de otimização topológica de atuadores piezelétricos em estruturas compostas laminada com o objetivo de atenuar as vibrações estruturais induzidas por excitações externas. Para isso, utiliza-se técnicas de controle ótimo, como o regulador linear quadrático (LQR) e o controlador linear quadrático gaussiano (LQG). Os estados não mensuráveis são estimados através do uso de observadores de estados de ordem completa, usando o filtro de Kalman para a escolha ótima da matriz de ganhos do observador de estados. O problema de otimização topológica é formulado para a localização ótima do atuador piezelétrico composto MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) na camada ativa da placa, determinando a localização mais vantajosa do material MFC através da maximização do índice de controlabilidade. Para o modelo estrutural, é proposto neste trabalho um modelo para a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura. Assume-se que o MFC é uma das lâminas de material ortotrópico que sofre uma deformação inicial a partir da aplicação de um potencial elétrico e que essa deformação terá efeitos sobre o restante da estrutura. Dessa maneira, não é necessário modelar o campo elétrico gerado através dos eletrodos, uma vez que o efeito eletromecânico é considerado analiticamente. A rigidez e a massa do atuador MFC são considerados no modelo estrutural. Os resultados numéricos mostram que o modelo estrutural proposto para representar a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura apresenta boa concordância com resultados experimentais e numéricos encontrados. Além disso, os resultados mostram que a partir do posicionamento ótimo do atuador MFC na estrutura, a técnica de controle implementada permite atenuar as vibrações estruturais. As simulações para uma força de um degrau unitário permitem concluir que a estratégia de controle usando o controlado LQG apresenta melhor desempenho em termos de tempo de assentamento, sobre resposta, amortecimento e sinal de controle, quando comparado com o controlador LQR. / This work presents a topologic optimization methodology of piezoelectric actuators in laminated composite structures with the objective of controlling external perturbation induced by structural vibrations. The Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimal control techniques are used. The states are estimated through of the full order state observers, using the Kalman filter to the observer gain matrix. The topology optimization is formulated to find the optimum localization of the Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) active piezoelectric patch, determining the most advantageous location of the MFC, through of the maximization of the controllability index. For the structural model, this work proposes a simplified MFC/structure interaction model. It is assumed that the MFC is one of the orthotropic material layers which has an initial strain arising from the application of an electric potential; this strain acts on the remainder of the structure. This way, modeling the electromechanical interaction between the piezoelectric material and the electric field is unnecessary because this effect is considered analytically. Both the stiffness and the mass of the MFC are taken into account in the structural model. Numerical results show that proposed MFC-structure interaction model presents good agreement with experiments and numerical simulations of models that uses the electromechanical effect. Actuator location optimization results show that the technique implemented improves the structural vibration damping. The response simulations to an unit step force allows to conclude that the control strategy using the LQG controller presents better performance in terms of settling time, overshoot, damping and control signal energy when compared to the LQR controller.

Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia de otimização topológica de atuadores piezelétricos em estruturas compostas laminada com o objetivo de atenuar as vibrações estruturais induzidas por excitações externas. Para isso, utiliza-se técnicas de controle ótimo, como o regulador linear quadrático (LQR) e o controlador linear quadrático gaussiano (LQG). Os estados não mensuráveis são estimados através do uso de observadores de estados de ordem completa, usando o filtro de Kalman para a escolha ótima da matriz de ganhos do observador de estados. O problema de otimização topológica é formulado para a localização ótima do atuador piezelétrico composto MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) na camada ativa da placa, determinando a localização mais vantajosa do material MFC através da maximização do índice de controlabilidade. Para o modelo estrutural, é proposto neste trabalho um modelo para a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura. Assume-se que o MFC é uma das lâminas de material ortotrópico que sofre uma deformação inicial a partir da aplicação de um potencial elétrico e que essa deformação terá efeitos sobre o restante da estrutura. Dessa maneira, não é necessário modelar o campo elétrico gerado através dos eletrodos, uma vez que o efeito eletromecânico é considerado analiticamente. A rigidez e a massa do atuador MFC são considerados no modelo estrutural. Os resultados numéricos mostram que o modelo estrutural proposto para representar a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura apresenta boa concordância com resultados experimentais e numéricos encontrados. Além disso, os resultados mostram que a partir do posicionamento ótimo do atuador MFC na estrutura, a técnica de controle implementada permite atenuar as vibrações estruturais. As simulações para uma força de um degrau unitário permitem concluir que a estratégia de controle usando o controlado LQG apresenta melhor desempenho em termos de tempo de assentamento, sobre resposta, amortecimento e sinal de controle, quando comparado com o controlador LQR. / This work presents a topologic optimization methodology of piezoelectric actuators in laminated composite structures with the objective of controlling external perturbation induced by structural vibrations. The Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimal control techniques are used. The states are estimated through of the full order state observers, using the Kalman filter to the observer gain matrix. The topology optimization is formulated to find the optimum localization of the Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) active piezoelectric patch, determining the most advantageous location of the MFC, through of the maximization of the controllability index. For the structural model, this work proposes a simplified MFC/structure interaction model. It is assumed that the MFC is one of the orthotropic material layers which has an initial strain arising from the application of an electric potential; this strain acts on the remainder of the structure. This way, modeling the electromechanical interaction between the piezoelectric material and the electric field is unnecessary because this effect is considered analytically. Both the stiffness and the mass of the MFC are taken into account in the structural model. Numerical results show that proposed MFC-structure interaction model presents good agreement with experiments and numerical simulations of models that uses the electromechanical effect. Actuator location optimization results show that the technique implemented improves the structural vibration damping. The response simulations to an unit step force allows to conclude that the control strategy using the LQG controller presents better performance in terms of settling time, overshoot, damping and control signal energy when compared to the LQR controller.

Este trabalho apresenta uma metodologia de otimização topológica de atuadores piezelétricos em estruturas compostas laminada com o objetivo de atenuar as vibrações estruturais induzidas por excitações externas. Para isso, utiliza-se técnicas de controle ótimo, como o regulador linear quadrático (LQR) e o controlador linear quadrático gaussiano (LQG). Os estados não mensuráveis são estimados através do uso de observadores de estados de ordem completa, usando o filtro de Kalman para a escolha ótima da matriz de ganhos do observador de estados. O problema de otimização topológica é formulado para a localização ótima do atuador piezelétrico composto MFC (Macro Fiber Composite) na camada ativa da placa, determinando a localização mais vantajosa do material MFC através da maximização do índice de controlabilidade. Para o modelo estrutural, é proposto neste trabalho um modelo para a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura. Assume-se que o MFC é uma das lâminas de material ortotrópico que sofre uma deformação inicial a partir da aplicação de um potencial elétrico e que essa deformação terá efeitos sobre o restante da estrutura. Dessa maneira, não é necessário modelar o campo elétrico gerado através dos eletrodos, uma vez que o efeito eletromecânico é considerado analiticamente. A rigidez e a massa do atuador MFC são considerados no modelo estrutural. Os resultados numéricos mostram que o modelo estrutural proposto para representar a interação entre o atuador MFC e a estrutura apresenta boa concordância com resultados experimentais e numéricos encontrados. Além disso, os resultados mostram que a partir do posicionamento ótimo do atuador MFC na estrutura, a técnica de controle implementada permite atenuar as vibrações estruturais. As simulações para uma força de um degrau unitário permitem concluir que a estratégia de controle usando o controlado LQG apresenta melhor desempenho em termos de tempo de assentamento, sobre resposta, amortecimento e sinal de controle, quando comparado com o controlador LQR. / This work presents a topologic optimization methodology of piezoelectric actuators in laminated composite structures with the objective of controlling external perturbation induced by structural vibrations. The Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) and Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimal control techniques are used. The states are estimated through of the full order state observers, using the Kalman filter to the observer gain matrix. The topology optimization is formulated to find the optimum localization of the Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) active piezoelectric patch, determining the most advantageous location of the MFC, through of the maximization of the controllability index. For the structural model, this work proposes a simplified MFC/structure interaction model. It is assumed that the MFC is one of the orthotropic material layers which has an initial strain arising from the application of an electric potential; this strain acts on the remainder of the structure. This way, modeling the electromechanical interaction between the piezoelectric material and the electric field is unnecessary because this effect is considered analytically. Both the stiffness and the mass of the MFC are taken into account in the structural model. Numerical results show that proposed MFC-structure interaction model presents good agreement with experiments and numerical simulations of models that uses the electromechanical effect. Actuator location optimization results show that the technique implemented improves the structural vibration damping. The response simulations to an unit step force allows to conclude that the control strategy using the LQG controller presents better performance in terms of settling time, overshoot, damping and control signal energy when compared to the LQR controller.

Among the many active materials in use today, piezoelectric composite patches have enabled notable advances in emerging technologies such as disturbance sensing, control of flexible structures, and energy harvesting. The macro fiber composite (MFC), in particular, is well known for its outstanding performance. Multiscale models are typically required for smart-structure design with MFCs. This is due to the need for predicting the macroscopic response (such as tip deflection under a transverse load or applied voltage) while accounting for the fact that the MFC has microscale details. Current multiscale models of the MFC exclusively focus on predicting the macroscopic response with homogenized material properties. There are a limited number of homogenized properties available from physical experiments and various aspects of existing homogenization techniques for the MFC are shown here to be inadequate. Thus, new homogenized models of the MFC are proposed to improve smart-structure predictions and therefore improve device design. It is notable that current multiscale modeling efforts for MFCs are incomplete since, after homogenization, the local fields such as stresses and electric fields have not been recovered. Existing methods for obtaining local fields are not applicable since the electrodes of the MFC are embedded among passive layers. Therefore, another objective of this work was to find the local fields of the MFC without having the computational burden of fully modeling the microscopic features of the MFC over a macroscale area. This should enable smart-structure designs with improved reliability because failure studies of MFCs will be enabled. Large-scale 3D finite element (FE) models that included microscale features were constructed throughout this work to verify the multiscale methodologies. Note that after creating a free account on cdmhub.org, many files used to create the results in this work can be downloaded from https://cdmhub.org/projects/ernestocamarena.<br><br>First, the Mechanics of Structure Genome (MSG) was extended to provide a rigorous analytical homogenization method. The MFC was idealized to consist of a stack of homogeneous layers where some of the layers were homogenized with existing rules of mixtures. For the analytical model, the electrical behavior caused by the interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) was approximated with uniform poling and uniform electrodes. All other assumptions on the field variables were avoided; thus an exact solution for a stack of homogeneous layers was found with MSG. In doing so, it was proved that in any such multi-layered composite, the in-plane strains and the transverse stresses are equal in each layer and the in-plane electric fields and transverse electric displacement are constant between the electrodes. Using this knowledge, a hybrid rule of mixtures was developed to homogenize the entire MFC layup so as to obtain the complete set of effective device properties. Since various assumptions were avoided and since the property set is now complete, it is expected that greater energy equivalence between reality and the homogenized model has been made possible. The derivation clarified what the electrical behavior of a homogenized solid with internal electrodes should be—an issue that has not been well understood. The behavior was verified by large-scale FE models of an isolated MFC patch.<br> <br>Increased geometrical fidelity for homogenization was achieved with an FE-based RVE analysis that accounted for finite-thickness effects. The presented theory also rectifies numerous issues in the literature with the use of the periodic boundary conditions. The procedure was first developed without regard to the internal electrodes (ie a homogenization of the active layer). At this level, the boundary conditions were shown to satisfy a piezoelectric macrohomogeneity condition. The methodology was then applied to the full MFC layup, and modifications were implemented so that both types of MFC electrodes would be accounted for. The IDE case considered nonuniform poling and electric fields, but fully poled material was assumed. The inherent challenges associated with these nonuniformities are explored, and a solution is proposed. Based on the homogenization boundary conditions, a dehomogenization procedure was proposed that enables the recovery of local fields. The RVE analysis results for the effective properties revealed that the homogenization procedure yields an unsymmetric constitutive relation; which suggests that the MFC cannot be homogenized as rigorously as expected. Nonetheless, the obtained properties were verified to yield favorable results when compared to a large-scale 3D FE model.<br> <br>As a final test of the obtained effective properties, large-scale 3D FE models of MFCs acting in a static unimorph configuration were considered. The most critical case to test was the smallest MFC available. Since none of the homogenized models account for the passive MFC regions that surround the piezoelectric fiber array, some of the test models were constructed with and without the passive regions. Studying the deflection of the host substrate revealed that ignoring the passive area in smaller MFCs can overpredict the response by up to 20%. Satisfactory agreement between the homogenized models and a direct numerical simulation were obtained with a larger MFC (about a 5% difference for the tip deflection). Furthermore, the uniform polarization assumption (in the analytical model) for the IDE case was found to be inadequate. Lastly, the recovery of the local fields was found to need improvement.<br><br><br>