Optimal locations of piezoelectric actuators and sensors for supersonic flutter control of composite laminated panels

The optimal active flutter control of supersonic composite laminated panels is studied using the distributed piezoelectric actuators/sensors pairs. The supersonic piston theory is used to calculate the unsteady aerodynamic pressure, and Hamilton’s principle with the assumed mode method is employed to develop the equation of motion of the structural system. The controllers are designed by the proportional feedback control method and the linear quadratic Gauss (LQG) algorithm. The optimal locations of the actuator/sensor pairs are determined by the genetic algorithm (GA). The aeroelastic properties of the structural system are mainly analyzed using the frequency-domain method. The time-domain responses of the structure are also computed using the Runge–Kutta method. The influences of ply angle on the flutter bound of the laminated panel with different length–width ratios are analyzed. The optimal design for the locations for different numbers of piezoelectric patches used in the proportional feedback control is carried out through the GA. Meanwhile, the control effects using different numbers of actuator/sensor pairs are investigated. The flutter suppression by the LQG algorithm is also carried out. The control effects using the two different controllers are compared. Numerical simulations show that the optimal locations obtained by the GA can increase the critical flutter aerodynamic pressure significantly, and the LQG algorithm is more effective in flutter suppression for supersonic structures than the proportional feedback controller.