Effectiveness of optimized fuzzy controllers on partially delaminated piezocomposites.

Delamination between the layers of smart composite beams is a possible failure type. The effectiveness of active vibration control, when delamination appears, is investigated in this article. In particular, optimized fuzzy controllers are developed and tested on partially delaminated piezocomposites. A finite element model based on layerwise theory, which incorporates the electromechanical coupling and the adhesive layer, is first developed. Delamination is considered by nonlinear structural analysis techniques and is used for the creation of realistic partially delaminated structures. Fuzzy controllers are built and applied to the smart structure. The fine-tuning of the parameters of control is done using genetic algorithms. Based on the results obtained from the numerical investigation, the applicability of fine-tuned fuzzy controllers, even in the case of partial delamination, is shown. According to different delamination scenarios, which were tested in this work, the design of adaptive fuzzy controllers, robust against delamination, is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]