Abstract:

Piezoelectric fiber composite actuators find important application in shape control, vibration control, flutter suppression and buffet control. This article introduces a load simulation method of piezoelectric actuators, by which the differences between the piezoelectric ceramic actuator and piezoelectric fiber composite actuator are discussed. Based on the qualitative analysis, the drive characteristics of a piezoelectric fiber composite actuator are discussed in terms of ply mode, ply angle and ply number. The analysis results show that bending and torsion deformation may be achieved by the symmetrical ply with an inverse electric field, and torsion deformation achieved by the antisymmetric ply with the same electric field. The maximum angle of rotation and maximum deflection may be achieved respectively by 45° ply and 0° ply. The drive load may increase with multiply construction but the overall deformation is dependent on the stiffness ratio between the actuators and the wing. The transfer of the elastic axes is very remarkable with the symmetrical ply and this characteristic is worthy of attention in aeroelastic control.

Key words: piezoelectric actuators, piezoelectric fiber composites, shape control, vibration control, drive characteristic