Damage Detection and Vibration Control of a Delaminated Smart Composite Plate

Abstract

In this paper, the effects of delamination on the dynamic characteristics of a composite plate are investigated. The refined higher order theory is used to model the smart composite plate in the presence of delaminations. The theory accurately captures the transverse shear deformation through the thickness, which is important in anisotropic composites, particularly in the presence of discrete actuators and sensors and delaminations. Next, the detection of delamination is investigated using the Root Mean Square (RMS) values of the response of the composite plate subject to disturbances. An active control system is designed to minimise the effect of delamination. The pole placement technique is applied to design the closed loop system by utilising piezoelectric actuators. Numerical results show that the RMS information can be used to estimate the location of the delamination. The controller designed makes the delaminated plate behave like a healthy plate model. The controller also reduces the magnitudes of RMS responses due to disturbance.