Optimal Control of Smart Functionally Graded Plates Using Piezoelectric Fiber Reinforced Composites

Abstract: A closed form solution is obtained for the optimal control of vibrations of simply supported thin functionally graded (FG) plates integrated with a Piezoelectric sensor layer and a piezoelectric fiber rein-forced composite (PFRC) actuator layer. The material properties of the FG plate are graded in the thickness direction according to a simple power law distribution in terms of the volume fraction of the constituents. The dmethod employed is the design of an optimal steady state regulator with output feedback. Results for various design parameters are illustrated. Particular attention has been focused on investigating the effect of varying the volume fraction index and the placement of the PFRC actuator on the softest and stiffest sides of the FG plate