Analysis and design of advanced composite structures

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The unique combination of composite materials and smart materials provide an opportunity to obtain lightweight adaptive structures for aerospace and aeronautical applications. The complexity in the design and fabrication of such adaptive composite structures results in a need to develop reliable and refined numerical tools to study their mechanical behaviour. The long term objective of the research program is the in-depth investigation of the structural behaviour of advanced smart composite structures. In the near future, we will study the behaviour of composite structures with integrated piezoelectric composite actuators. The research activities will focus on: 1) developing smart composite structures that can change or adapt their shapes when subjected to environmental conditions variation; 2) developing a bi-stable composite structure for morphing applications. Efforts will be conducted to develop a comprehensive numerical tool that can be used to analyse a structure subjected to thermo-mechanical loads and piezoelectric actuation. Experimental work will be conducted to validate the model predictions. A methodology will be developed to actively control the shape of structures subjected to thermal loading. The proposed research activities will contribute to explore and develop new smart structures and systems. Insights will be gained on the behaviour of combined piezocomposite/laminate structures. The results have the potential to lead to numerous applications in the aerospace and aeronautical areas, where Canadian companies are at the fore front of the technology.