Finite element simulation of wireless structural vibration control with photostrictive actuators

Abstract

A recently emerging family of smart materials, photostrictive materials, exhibit large photostriction under uniform illumination of high-energy light. This photostriction mechanism arises from a superposition phenomenon of photovoltaic and converse piezoelectric effects. A photostrictive type of opto-electromechanical actuator activated by high-energy lights can introduce actuation and control effects without hard-wired connections. The control light intensity applied to the actuator is proportional to the transverse velocity at a positioned point, which is measured by a laser vibrometer. In this paper, photostrictive films are numerically analyzed to evaluate their use as wireless actuators for future remote vibration control of flexible structures. A novel opto-electromechanical solid shell finite element formulation is developed for accurate analysis of the multiple physics effects of photovoltaic, pyroelectric and thermal expansion of photostrictive materials. Available experimental data and analytical solutions have been used to verify the present finite element results. The simulation in this study demonstrates that the present formulation is very reliable, accurate and also computationally efficient and that the use of photostrictive actuators can provide good controllability of structural vibration.