High performance twin-tail aircraft, like the F-15 and F/A-18, encounter a condition known as tail buffet. At high angles of attack, vortices are generated at the wing fuselage interface (shoulder) or other leading edge extensions. These vortices are directed toward the twin vertical tails. When the flow interacts with the vertical tail it creates pressure variations that can oscillate the vertical tail assembly. This results in fatigue cracks in the vertical tail assembly that can decrease the fatigue life and increase maintenance costs. For many years, research has been conducted to understand this phenomenon of buffet and to reduce its adverse effects on the fatigue life of aerospace structures. Many proposed solutions to this tail buffet problem have had limited success. These include strengthening the tail, modifying the vortex flow, using an active rudder control, and leading edge extensions. Some of the proposed active controls include piezoelectric actuators. Recently, an offset piezoceramic stack actuator was used on an F-15 wind tunnel model to control buffet induced vibrations at high angles of attack. The controller was based on acceleration feedback control methods. In this thesis a procedure for designing the offset piezoceramic stack actuators is developed. This design procedure includes determining the quantity and type of piezoceramic stacks used in these actuators. The changes of stresses, in the vertical tail caused by these actuators during an active control, are investigated. In many cases, linear controllers are very effective in reducing vibrations. However, during flight, the natural frequencies of the vertical tail structural system changes as the airspeed increases. This in turn, reduces the effectiveness of a linear controller. Other causes such as the unmodeled dynamics and nonlinear effects due to debonds also reduce the effectiveness of linear controllers. In this thesis, an adaptive neural network is used to augment the linear controller to correct these effects.

Thesis (M.App.Sc.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 123-128). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Orientador: Milton Dias Júnior / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-25T08:49:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rocha_TeoLenquistda_D.pdf: 5484630 bytes, checksum: 40d5122ff01ee4077957ffbc79369379 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: Ruído em um veículo é geralmente causado pela vibração de vários componentes. Por exemplo, vibrações causadas pelo motor podem causar vibração de um painel levando a ruído no interior da cabine. O controle de tal ruído e vibração pode ser conseguido através da aplicação de uma manta visco-elástica ou de outro material de amortecimento adequado sobre o componente do automóvel; no entanto, materiais de amortecimento convencional geralmente têm uma alta densidade, que pode conduzir a um aumento significativo na massa total do sistema de isolamento acústico. Uma alternativa para redução de peso emprega pastilhas piezocerâmicas ligadas em série a um circuito Resistor - Indutor ( RL ), funcionando como um amortecedor de vibração sintonizado; daí o termo ressoador piezoelétrico é utilizado. No presente trabalho, a capacidade de amortecimento de ressonadores piezoelétricos é comparada a tratamentos convencionais de amortecimento em uma sequência de três experimentos. Investigações iniciais são realizadas em uma chapa de aço instalada entre câmaras reverberante e anecóica para permitir medições de transmissão do som através da placa. Uma abordagem integrada utilizando análise modal e técnicas de visualização de campo acústico é utilizada para identificar os modos mais relevantes para a propagação do ruído. Na sequência, simulação por elementos finitos e análise teórica são utilizados para auxiliar na escolha dos valores dos componentes elétricos e no posicionamento dos resonadores piezoelétricos para atuação maximizada. Medições de Perda de Transmissão Sonora e Funções de Resposta em Frequência são realizadas para demonstrar o controle de vibração estrutural e o isolamento acústico resultante. Na sequência, os elementos de projeto deste experimento são replicados no painel de instrumentos de um veículo. Com o painel de instrumentos instalado entre salas reverberante e anecóica, a contribuição dos ressonadores piezoelétricos sobre a perda de transmissão sonora é demonstrada em uma estrutura complexa. Finalmente, ressonadores piezoeléctricos são utilizados para atenuar a vibração induzida pelo funcionamento de motor no painel traseiro de um veículo. Nesta aplicação prática, o efeito do controle de vibração e da atenuação de ruído interno são avaliados em condições operacionais. O trabalho é concluído com uma discussão sobre os resultados alcançados e os benefícios de redução de massa proporcionados pela técnica de amortecimento proposta / Abstract: Noise in a vehicle is generally caused by the vibration of various automotive components, such as the dash board, door panels, roof, or the like. For example, vibrations caused by the engine may cause a dash panel to vibrate leading to noise inside the cabin. The control of such noise and vibration may be achieved by placing a viscoelastic or other suitable damping material on the automotive component; however, conventional damping materials usually have a high density, which can lead to significant increases in the overall mass of the sound insulation system. A lightweight alternative employs piezoceramic patches connected in series to a Resistor-Inductor (R-L) circuit, performing as a tuned vibration absorber; hence the term piezoelectric resonator is used. In the present work, the damping capacity of piezoelectric resonators is compared to conventional damping treatments in a sequence of three experiments. Initial investigations are carried out in a steel plate installed between reverberant and anechoic rooms, to enable measurements of sound transmission through the plate. An integrated approach using component modal analyses and assessments of sound pressured distribution is employed to identify the most relevant modes to the noise propagation. In sequence, FE simulation and theoretical analysis are used to support the choice of the electrical components values and the placement of piezoelectric patches for maximized actuation. Measurements of Sound Transmission Loss (STL) and Frequency Response Function (FRF) are conducted to demonstrate the structural vibration control and its resulting sound insulation. Furthermore, design elements of this experiment are replicated into a vehicle dash panel. With the dash panel installed between reverberant and anechoic rooms, the contribution of piezoelectric resonators on the sound transmission loss is proven to be effective in a complex structure. Finally, piezoelectric resonators are employed to attenuate the vibration induced by powertrain excitation in the back panel of a vehicle. In this practical application, the effect of structural vibration control and interior noise attenuation are evaluated in operational conditions. The work is concluded with a discussion on the achieved results and mass saving benefits of the proposed lightweight damping technique / Doutorado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Doutor em Engenharia Mecânica

Orientadores: Niederauer Mastelari, Carlos Alberto Cimini Júnior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-26T13:21:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AguiarRibeiro_AndreLuizde_M.pdf: 1696181 bytes, checksum: 0e5d5c8b94f2e38b7abbbc10c62ab120 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014 / Resumo: A utilização de materiais compósitos na indústria tem crescido cada vez mais e se firmou como uma tendência para os próximos anos. Seja nos ramos automotivo, náutico, aeroespacial ou de defesa, as aplicações são as mais diversas, tendo em comum o usufruto da excelente relação de resistência por peso oferecida por este tipo de material. Em certos ramos, entretanto, como o aeroespacial, a utilização de materiais compósitos requer atenção especial, por ser característico destes materiais a ocorrência de tipos de falha próprios como delaminações, rupturas de fibra e de matriz, descolamentos, perfuração parcial ou total, alguns dos quais não observáveis a olho nu. O presente trabalho se debruça sobre esta problemática, visando o desenvolvimento de um método de apoio a técnicas de monitoramento de integridade estrutural por meio da localização de impactos com uso de sensores piezelétricos, implantado em peças sobretudo da indústria aeroespacial, permita catalogar regiões que hajam sofrido impactos importantes e possam apresentar falhas. Para conduzir o presente trabalho, foi feita uma revisão bibliográfica de técnicas de localização de impactos ou falhas em placas presentes no estado da arte, com análise e proposta de um método que se preste a este mesmo propósito inclusive para placas anisotrópicas. Foi estudado e desenvolvido um método a base de funções de erro, associando através de uma função pertinente cada ponto do domínio da placa a um valor de erro tanto menor quanto sua distância ao ponto de impacto real. O local de impacto estará associado ao ponto de menor erro. O método proposto, que já havia sido testado em simulações e experimentalmente em placas isotrópicas, forneceu resultados promissores também em placas anisotrópicas, apresentando estimativas com erro médio inferior a 2,0 cm / Abstract: The use of composite materials in industry has been increasing and establishing itself as a tendency for the next years. Be it in automotive, nautical, aerospace or defense, applications are many, all of which have in common taking advantage of the excellent relationship amongst resistance and weight offered by this kind of material. In certain areas, however, such as in aerospace, use of composite materials demands special attention, due to being characteristic of these materials the occurrence of certain proper types of damage such as delamination, fiber or matrix ruptures, debondings or partial or total perforation, some of which aren't even observable to naked eye. The present works focus in these problematics, aiming to develop a structural health monitoring supportive method via impact localization with low cost piezoelectric sensors that, embedded in parts primarily from the aerospace industry, allows to catalogue regions that have suffered significant impact and may have been damaged. In order to conduct the present work, a bibliographic revision was made of current state-of-the-art impact and damage localization techniques, with analysis and proposal of an innovative method for the same purpose. With that in mind, an error function method was studied and developed that associates through a pertinent function to each point in the plate an error value that is as small as its distance to real point of impact. This way, the point of impact will be related to the point of smaller error. The proposed method, which has already been tested in simulations and isotropic plates, presented interesting results also in anisotropic plates, with average estimative errors of less than 2.0 cm / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

Orientador: Carlos Alberto Cimini Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Mecânica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-28T23:32:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Almeida_RobertoSilvade_M.pdf: 4039070 bytes, checksum: 5f3fa81abaa6c19d365c550dd4b59dbd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: O principal objetivo deste trabalho, foi desenvolver uma metodologia para identificar impacto em placas laminadas de materiais compósitos, a fim de reduzir o tempo de inspeção e assim otimizar o intervalo de inspeção para uma determinada estrutura, já que muitas vezes é necessário interromper a sua operação. Uma compreensão abrangente dos efeitos de interação estrutura, sensores piezelétricos e objetos utilizados para aplicar cargas de impacto foi essencial. Este trabalho efetua uma análise numérica a partir dos tempos que conduziram ondas de deformação para alcançar os sensores e os seus efeitos sobre a exatidão dos resultados, obtidos pelo algoritmo desenvolvido, bem como a exatidão da metodologia aplicada. Sensores piezelétricos fabricados pela International APC e um sistema de aquisição de dados da National Instruments foram utilizados para obter respostas de ondas de tensão geradas por cargas de impacto. Uma identificação simples e robusta do impacto em tempo real com base na triangulação foi implementada. O uso de recursos computacionais através da plataforma Labview, juntamente com um algoritmo implementado no código computacional, forneceu resultados promissores, após testes realizados em configurações de placas experimentais monitoradas com redes de sensores piezelétricos. A metodologia proposta foi validada para placas de material isotrópico (aço) e anisotrópico (carbono/epóxi) apresentando bons resultados. A interface foi desenvolvida para ser aplicada a materiais com diferentes índices de anisotropia, onde se pode ajustar os valores de velocidade das ondas em diferentes direções. Observou-se que o erro máximo medido foi de 0,028 m. O código computacional apresentou-se robusto para identificar o local do impacto em qualquer ponto da placa em tempo real. Foi possível também comprovar para as diferentes massas de impacto que um procedimento simples de triangulação combinado com as características de velocidade de propagação das ondas proporciona um meio de localizar impactos / Abstract: The main objective of this work was to develop a methodology for identifying impact in laminated plates of composite materials in order to reduce inspection time and thus reduce the inspection interval for a given structure, since it is often necessary to stop its operation. A comprehensive understanding of the interaction effects of structure, piezoelectric sensors and objects used to apply impact loads was essential. This work demonstrates the numerical analysis of time leading waves of deformation to reach the sensors and their effect on not only the accuracy of the results obtained by the algorithm but also the accuracy of the methodology applied. In this work, piezoelectric sensors manufactured by International APC and data acquisition system of National Instruments were used. A simple and robust real-time impact identification based on triangulation was implemented. The use of computational resources within Labview platform along with a computer code implemented algorithm provided promising results after testing experimental settings for plates monitored with of piezoelectric sensors. The proposed methodology was validated for isotropic (steel) and anisotropic (carbon/epoxy) plate materials with fairly good results. The interface was designed to be applied to materials with different degrees of anisotropy, adjusting the values of wave velocity in different directions for composite materials. It was observed that the maximum error was 0.028 m. The computer code was robust enough to identify the impact location at any point of the plate in real time. It was also possible to demonstrate for different impact masses that a simple triangulation procedure combined with the characteristics of wave propagation provides a methodology for locating impacts / Mestrado / Mecanica dos Sólidos e Projeto Mecanico / Mestre em Engenharia Mecânica

A novel combined piezoelectric-composite actuator configuration is proposed and analytically modeled in this work. The actuator is a low complexity, active compliant mechanism obtained by coupling a modified star cross sectional configuration composite beam with a helicoidal bimorph piezoelectric actuator coiled around it. This novel actuator is a good candidate as a hinge tension-torsion bar actuator for a helicopter rotor blade flap or blade tip and mirror rotational positioning. In the wing tip case, the tip deflection angle is different only according to the aerodynamic moment depending on the hinge position of the actuator along the chord and applied voltage because there is no centrifugal force. For an active blade tip subject to incompressible flow and 2D quasi steady airloads, its twist angle is related not only to aerodynamic moment and applied voltage but also to coupling terms, such as the trapeze effect and the tennis racquet effect. Results show the benefit of hinge position aft of the aerodynamic center, such that the blade tip response is amplified by airloads. Contrary to this effect, results also show that the centrifugal effects and inertial effect cause an amplitude reduction in the response. Summation of these effects determines the overall blade tip response. The results for a certain hinge position of Xh=1.5% chord aft of the quarter chord point proves that the tip deflection target design range[-2,+2] can be achieved for all pitch angle configurations chosen.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Over the past 50 years smart materials have made their appearance in many structures. The thermopiezoelectric ceramic is one of these smart materials. When thermal e ects are considered negligible, then the materials are classified as piezo-ceramic and piezoelectric materials. These so called piezo-ceramics are used as actuator and sensor components in many structures. The use of these components with composite materials is significant due to their application in the aerospace and aeronautics fields. The interaction that the piezoelectric material has with a composite body can be improved in order to reduce the energy requirement of the material for deformation. An objective in the optimisation of composite material structures is to minimise compliance or maximise sti ness uT f, with the laminate ply orientations as design variables, where u and f are displacement and force vectors, respectively. Here, the objective is not the maximisation of sti ness but the maximisation of compliance, with typical constraints being failure criteria. These failure criteria can include theories such as the maximum principle stress, the Tsai-Hill or Tsai-Wu failure theories. The compliance is maximised to accentuate any piezoelectric movement and is for theoretical treatment only. Piezoelectric materials once polarized the materials becomes quasi-isotropic. The piezoelectric materials are isotropic in the plane normal to the direction of the voltage being applied and have altered properties normal to this plane. This change in the material properties can be exploited so that the layup can be altered in orientation to improve performance. The idea is to improve the mechanical capabilities of the structure subject to an electrical input or vice versa. In the works by both Carrera et al. and Piefort, First Order Shear Deformation Theory (FSDT) is used in finite element analysis to characterise the structural and electrical behaviour of a plate or shell. FSDT, also known as the Mindlin-Reissner theory, is a plate bending theory that assumes a transverse shear distribution through the thickness of the plate. This theory is considered an improvement on the standard theories such as the Kircho or Timoshenko theories. Many optimisation techniques exist and are classed as either being direct search or gradient based methods. Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSO) is a direct search method. It mimics the behaviour of a flock of birds or school of fish in their attempt to find food. The PSO’s mathematical statement characterises a set of initial unknown particles within a designated search space that are compared to a set of local best particles and a single global best particle. This comparison is used to update the swarm each run cycle. Regression is a procedure whereby a set of testing data is used to fit a pseudo-function that represents the form the data should take in practice. The aim of this work is to optimise the piezoelectric-composite layer interaction to improve the overall compliance of a structure. Extensive modelling is performed and tested with peer reviewed literature to demonstrate its accuracy. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Oor die afgelope 50 jaar het slim materiale hulle verskyning gemaak in verskeie strukture. Termopiezo-elektriese keramieke is een van hierdie nuwe materiale. Wanneer termiese e ekte onbeduidend is, word hierdie materiale as piezo-elektriese materiale geklassifiseer. Hierdie sogenaamde piezo-keramieke word gebruik as aandrywers en sensoriese onderdele in verskeie strukture. Die kombinasie van hierdie onderdele met saamgestelde materiale het belangrike toepassings in die ruimte- en lugvaartkunde. Die interaksie van die piezo-elektriese materiale met die saamgestelde materiaal strukture kan verbeter word om die energie-vereistes van die materiaal vir vervorming te verminder. ’n Tipiese doel in die optimering van saamgestelde materiaalstrukture is om styfheid uT f te maksimeer met die gelamineerde laag-oriëntasies as ontwerpsveranderlikes, waar u en f onderskeidelik verplasing en kragvektor voorstel. In teenstelling met die optimering van die samestelling wat voorheen gedoen is, is die doel hier nie die maksimering van styfheid nie, maar die minimering van styfheid, met falingskriteria as tipiese beperkings. Die falingskriteria sluit die volgende in: die maksimum spanningsteorie, en die Tsai-Hill of Tsai-Wu falingsteorieë. Die styfheid word geminimeer om piezo-elektriese verplasing te versterk, maar word hierin net teoreties bekyk. Sodra piezo-elektriese materiale gepolariseer word, word hulle quasi-isotropies. Die piezoelektriese materiale is isotropies in die vlak gelyk aan die rigting van die stroomspanning wat daarop toegepas word en het ander eienskappe normaal tot die vlak. Die verandering in die materiaal se eienskappe kan gebruik word sodat beide die saamgestelde materiaal en die piezoelektriese laag se oriëntasie aangepas kan word vir verbeterde werkverrigting. Die idee is om die meganiese vermoëns te verbeter van ’n struktuur wat onderwerp word aan ’n elektriese inset of vice versa. In die literatuur van beide Carrera et al. en Piefort word Eerste Orde Skuifvervormings Teorie (EOST) gebruik in eindige element analises om die strukturele en elektriese gedrag van ’n plaat of dop te karakteriseer. EOST, ook bekend as Mindlin-Reissner teorie, is ’n plaat buigings-teorie wat ’n dwarsvervormingverspreiding aanneem deur die dikte van die plaat. Hierdie teorie word gesien as ’n verbetering op die standaard teorieë soos bv. Kircho of Timoshenko se teorieë. Daar bestaan baie optimeringstegnieke wat geklassifiseer word as ’direkte soek’ of ’hellinggebaseerde’ metodes. Partikel swerm-optimering (PSO) is ’n direkte soekmetode. Dit boots die gedrag van ’n swerm voëls of ’n skool visse in hulle poging om kos te vind, na. PSO se wiskundige stelling karakteriseer ’n aanvanklike stel onbekende partikels binne ’n afgebakende soekgebied wat vergelyk word met ’n stel van die beste plaaslike partikels sowel as ’n enkele beste globale partikel. Die vergelykings word gebruik om die swerm met elke siklus op te dateer. Regressie is ’n metode waarin toetsdata gebruik word om ’n benaderde funksie te konstrueer wat ongeveer voorspel hoe die regte funksie lyk. Die doel van hierdie werk is om die piezoelektriese saamgestelde laag te optimeer en die interaksie van die totale gedrag van die struktuur te verbeter. Uitgebreide modellering word uitgevoer en getoets met eweknie-beoordeelde literatuur om die akkuraatheid en korrektheid te bewys.

We investigated two design strategies that would allow us to efficiently process audio signals on embedded systems such as mobile phones and portable electronics. In the first strategy, we exploit properties of the human auditory system to process audio signals. We designed a sound enhancement algorithm to make piezoelectric loudspeakers sound "richer" and "fuller," using a combination of bass extension and dynamic range compression. We also developed an audio energy reduction algorithm for loudspeaker power management by suppressing signal energy below the masking threshold. In the second strategy, we use low-power analog circuits to process the signal before digitizing it. We designed an analog front-end for sound detection and implemented it on a field programmable analog array (FPAA). The sound classifier front-end can be used in a wide range of applications because programmable floating-gate transistors are employed to store classifier weights. Moreover, we incorporated a feature selection algorithm to simplify the analog front-end. A machine learning algorithm AdaBoost is used to select the most relevant features for a particular sound detection application. We also designed the circuits to implement the AdaBoost-based analog classifier.

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based artificial sensory hairs for flow sensing have been widely explored, but the processes involved in their fabrication are lithography intensive, making the process quite expensive and cumbersome. Most of these devices are also based on silicon MEMS, which makes the fabrication of out-of plane 3D flow sensors very challenging. This thesis aims to develop new fabrication technologies based on Polymer MEMS, with minimum dependence on lithography for the fabrication of piezoresistive 3D out-of-plane artificial sensory hairs for sensing of air flow. Moreover, the fabrication of a flexible sensor array is proposed and new materials are also explored for the sensing application. Soft lithography based approaches are first investigated for the fabrication of an all elastomer device that is tested in a bench top wind tunnel. Micromolding technologies allow for the mass fabrication of microstructures using a single, reusable mold master that is fabricated by SU-8 photolithography, reducing the need for repetitive processing. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is used as the device material and sputter deposited gold is used as both the piezoresistive as well as the electrode material for collection of device response. The fabrication results of PDMS to PDMS metal transfer micromolding (MTM) are shown and the limitations of the process are also discussed. A dissolving mold metal transfer micromolding process is then proposed and developed, which overcomes the limitations of the conventional MTM process pertinent to the present application. Testing results of devices fabricated using the dissolving mold process are discussed with emphasis on the role of micro-cr  acking as one failure mode in elastomeric devices with thin film metal electrodes. Finally, a laser microfabrication based approach using thin film Kapton as the device material and an electrically conductive carbon-black elastomer composite as the piezoresistor is proposed and demonstrated. Laminated sheets of thick and thin Kapton form the flexible substrate on which the conductive elastomer piezoresistors are stencil printed. Excimer laser ablation is used to make the micro-stencil as well as to release the Kapton cantilevers. The fluid-structure interaction is improved by the deposition of a thin film of silicon dioxide, which produces a stress-gradient induced curvature, strongly enhancing the device sensitivity. This new approach also enables the fabrication of backside interconnects, thereby addressing the commonly observed problem of flow intrusion while using conventional interconnection technologies like wire-bonding. Devices with varying dimensions of the sensing element are fabricated and the results presented, with smallest devices having a width of 400 microns and a length of 1.5 mm with flow sensitivities as high as 60 Ohms/m/s. Recommendations are also proposed for further optimization of the device.