Modeling and Analysis of Composite Wing Sections for Improved Aeroelastic and Vibration Characteristics Using Smart Materials

The objective of this research is to develop analysis procedures to investigate the coupling of composite and smart materials to improve aeroelastic and vibratory response of aerospace structures. The structural modeling must account for arbitrarily thick geometries, embedded and surface bonded sensors and actuators and imperfections, such as delamination. Changes in the dynamic response due to the presence of smart materials and delaminations is investigated. Experiments are to be performed to validate the proposed mathematical model.