Piezoelectromagnetic smart structures

Abstract

A piezoelectromagnetic medium is formed by bonding piezoelectric and magnetostrictive layers on tapered beams. Piezoelectromagnetic materials are often utilized as intelligent media in the design of distributed sensors and actuators of smart structures. A spectral nite element model is presented for evaluating the voltage and magnetic response of exible structures subjected to modulated force input. The Taguchi methodology is applied as a robust design technique to study the e ect of design variables such as the thickness of the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers, the taper ratio of the tapered beam and the boundary conditions. From the study it is concluded that the thickness of the magnetostrictive and piezoelectric layers and the taper ratio of the beam contribute signi cantly to the response of the structure considered.