Maintaining the shape of high-precision structures such as space antennas is a challenging issue for designers. Varying temperature conditions will induce thermal distortions in these structures. Development of smart materials offers great potential to correct the shape. In this study, shape control of a composite structure under thermal loading using piezocomposites is investigated. Macro-Fibre Composite (MFC TM) patches are bonded to the structure. The structure is subjected to a through-the-thickness temperature gradient which induces thermal distortion. The objective is to apply electric potential to the MFC actuators such that the out-of-plane deflection can be minimized. Finiteelement analyses are conducted using the commercial software ABAQUS. Experiments are performed to study piezoelectric actuation, thermally-induced distortion, and compensation of thermal distortion using the MFC actuators. A control loop based on strain measurements is used to actively control the structure. Results show that MFC actuators can compensate thermal distortion and that is an efficient methodology.
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