New technology for smart structures - sheet metal forming of piezoceramic-metal-laminar structures

An increasing use of multi-layer-composites and intelligent materials is observed in different fields of industry. Products with an integrated sensor and actuator functionality allow a wide range of applications, such as health monitoring or acoustic design. In addition to the already good passive damping properties of bonded blanks, a further improvement is possible by the use of active noise insulation. New technologies for the fabrication of multi-layer-composites with sensor and actuator functionality are presented. They consist of Macro Fiber Composites embedded in a layer of epoxy adhesive between two aluminum sheets and the forming of those composites to structural parts. Forming takes place in a viscous condition of the adhesive, so that a relative movement between the layers is possible. This paper deals with the experimental and numerical characterization of the actuator and sensor functionality. In order to get detailed information about the effects of piezo-modules integrated in a complex bonded sheet-metal structure a FE-model displaying the sensor and actuator functionality has to be implemented. In a first step the validation of the model is achieved through direct comparison with experimentally determined data from sensor and actuator tests with bending geometries specimens.