Architectural Synthesis and Analysis of Dual-Cellular Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composites for Multifunctional Metastructures

Abstract

Recently, a cellular structure concept based on fluidic flexible matrix composites (F2MCs) was investigated for its potential of concurrently achieving multiple adaptive functions. Such structure consists of two fluidically connected F2MC cells, and it has been proven capable of dynamic actuation with enhanced authority, variable stiffness, and vibration absorption. The purpose of the research presented in this paper is to develop comprehensive design and synthesis tools to exploit the rich functionality and versatility of this F2MC based system. To achieve this goal, two progressive research topics are addressed: The first is to survey unique architectures based on rigorous mathematical principles. Four generic types of architectures are identified for the dual-cellular structure based on fluidic and mechanical constraints between the two cells. The system governing equations of motion are derived and experimentally tested for these architectures, and it is found that the overall structural dynamics are related to the F2MC cell stiffness, internal pressure difference, and static flow volume between the two cells according to the architectural layout. The second research topic is to derive a comprehensive synthesis procedure to assign the F2MC designs so that the cellular structure can simultaneously reach a set of different performance targets. Synthesis case studies demonstrate the range of performance of the F2MC based cellular structure with respect to different architectures. The outcome of this investigation could provide valuable insights and design methodologies to foster the adoption of F2MC to advance the state of art of a variety of engineering applications. It also lays the foundation for a large-scale “metastructure,” where many pairs of fluidically connected F2MC can be employed as modules to achieve synergetic global performance.