A virtual prototyping approach to the design of smart structures applications

In order to bring the research results on intelligent materials to the level of industrial use in real applications, the related design processes have to become part of the complete product creation process. This requires that the product functional performance simulation models, which are the cornerstone of today's design process, must be capable of supporting the specific aspects related to advanced materials, active systems, actuators, sensors and control and integrate these into system level virtual prototype models. More specifically, this involves developing modeling capabilities for the intelligent material systems, sensor and actuator components, for the control systems as well as for their integration in systemlevel application designs. The final result will then be a multi-attribute optimization approach integrating noise and vibration performance with reliability, durability and cost aspects. It is clear that no single integrated solution will be able to fulfill all requirements of the various material and control approaches, therefore the focus of the research is on supporting as much as possible the use, combination and extension of existing codes and tools.