Analysis of thin walled composite box beam with and without piezoelectric actuators using ABAQUS

Abstract

Nowadays, thin walled structural members are highly preferred over solid structural members. Thin walled composite box beam is such structural member which is extensively used in many engineering applications. In the present study a smart thin walled composite box beam model is developed using ABAQUS. The width and the height of the thin walled box beam are varied along the length of the beam to study the effect of different tapering ratio. The effects of piezoelectric actuators on deflection and twist of composite thin walled box beam with different ply orientations, loading conditions and boundary conditions has been investigated. Further, the optimal position of the piezoelectric patch is obtained. A good agreement in results is observed with the available experimental results for thin walled box beam with and without piezoelectric actuators. The results obtained show that due to piezoelectric actuation both vertical deflection and twist can be reduced significantly.