Active Control of NITINOL-Reinforced Structural Composites

Abstract

The rapidly growing technology of the SHAPE MEMORY NICKEL-TITANIUM ALLOY (NITINOL) is utilized to develop SMART composite materials that are capable of adapting intelligently to internal and external excitations. The NITINOL fibers are embedded into the composite matrix, at optimal locations and orientations, to sense and control the static and dynamic characteristics of the resulting SMART composite. With such built-in self-inspecting and controlling capabilities, the performance of the SMART composite can be optimized and tailored, in real time, to match changes in the operating conditions. Emphasis has been placed on controlling the static, dynamic and thermal characteristics of anisotropic NITINOL-reinforced beams. Furthermore, the sensing capabilities of the NITINOL fibers are investigated by using them as distributed strain gages to monitor the physical and modal displacements of NITINOL-reinforced composites. Finite element models are developed to predict structural stability and the static, dynamic and thermal behavior of NITINOL-reinforced composite beams. The theoretical predictions of these models are validated experimentally.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 12, 1992
Accession Number
ADA261062

Entities

People

  • A. Baz

Organizations

  • The Catholic University of America

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Sensors
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Analyzers
  • Composite Materials
  • Computational Science
  • Control Systems
  • Detectors
  • Finite Element Analysis
  • Frequency Bands
  • Frequency Shift
  • Heat Transfer
  • Load Cells
  • Materials
  • Measurement
  • Mechanics
  • Modal Analysis
  • Modulus Of Elasticity
  • Resonant Frequency
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Powder metallurgy of Titanium alloys.
  • Reinforced Composite Materials