Active position control of a shape-memory-alloy-wire-actuated composite beam

Abstract

This paper presents the design and experiment results of active position control of a shape memory alloy (SMA) wires actuated composite beam. The composite beam is honeycomb structured with shape memory alloy wires embedded in one of its phase sheet for active actuation. The potential applications of this experiment include thermo-distortion compensation for precession space structure, stern shape control for submarines, and flap shape control for aeronautical applications. Shape memory alloy wires are chosen as actuating elements due to their high recovery stress (maybe greater than 700 MPa) and tolerance to high strain (up to 8%). However, shape memory alloy wires are inherently nonlinear and pose a challenge for control design. A robust controller is designed and implemented to active control the tip position of the composite beam. The experiment setup consists of the composite beam with embedded SMA wires, programmable current/voltage amplifier to actuate the SMA wires, an infrared laser range sensor to detect the beam tip displacement, and a real-time data acquisition and control system. Experiments demonstrated the effectiveness of the robust control.