Multidisciplinary Design Optimization for Smart Micro-Composite and Experimental Validation by Using Laser Excitation Technique

The present paper proposes a multidisciplinary design optimization method for smart micro-composite structures to maximize vibration suppression performance, and an innovative experimental technique with laser excitation is applied to validate numerical results. The smart structures are composed of graphite/epoxy (CFRP) composites and PZT actuators. The performance of smart structures for vibration suppression strongly depends on vibration mode shapes and PZT actuator placements. It is possible to specify vibration mode shapes for the laminated composite by varying the stacking angles of reinforcing fibers, and both fiber orientation angles and PZT placements are optimized simultaneously by using a simple Genetic Algorithm (GA) method. Then, the calculated results are validated by an experiment using laser excitation which excites the micro-sized structures with high reproducibility since the laser is precisely irradiated to the structure at same position with same power repeatedly.