Application of smart materials to composite structures

Advanced structural systems are required to have specific functions associated with operating environments. This article introduces some analytic and experimental research results on the application of smart materials, especially shape memory alloy, optical fiber, and piezoelectric materials. The first part presents the thermo-mechanical responses of the shape memory alloy hybrid composite (SMAHC) cylindrical panels. SMA wires are embedded in neutral plane of the panel with residual strain so that the recovery stress generated by shape memory effect (SME) can modify the structure stiffness and enhance the adaptability under thermal buckling. The second one is about the application of fiber optic sensor systems to the vibration measurement and suppression. The dynamic sensing characteristics of fiber optic sensors were explored and the vibration measurement and suppression of composite structures have been performed. In addition, the stability boundary evaluation and the suppression of dynamic aeroelastic instability have been investigated utilizing piezoceramic actuators and adaptive controller based on neural-networks.