The design of smart structures is challenging because of the integrated electromechanical modelling and optimization of actuators, sensors and load-bearing structures. To simplify the design process, it is common to decouple some of the components and physics and develop each part separately, which could lead to suboptimal systems. To improve the overall design of active structures, we propose an integrated and fully coupled design methodology for a certain class of smart structures. Specifically, this paper presents a numerical framework for the simultaneous application of density-based topology optimization of multi-material conductive compliant mechanisms and a composite multi-layered geometry-projection method for the optimization of the size, position and orientation of embedded piezoelectric stack actuators. Their electromechanical properties are represented in a continuum-based setting by an orientation- and geometry-dependent equivalent material model and their activation depends on the distribution of conductive material in the structure. Furthermore, a novel constraint on the polarization of the actuators is proposed to avoid unwanted designs that could cause their mechanical degradation. A set of numerical examples is analysed and discussed. The proposed framework exhibits promising results, with significant improvements in comparison to a benchmark problem.

中文翻译：

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使用复合几何投影方法对具有嵌入式压电堆栈执行器的智能结构进行拓扑优化


由于执行器、传感器和承载结构的集成机电建模和优化，智能结构的设计具有挑战性。为了简化设计过程，通常会将一些组件和物理系统解耦并单独开发每个部分，这可能会导致系统不理想。为了改进主动结构的整体设计，我们针对某一类智能结构提出了一种集成的、完全耦合的设计方法。具体来说，本文提出了一种同时应用多材料导电柔顺机构基于密度的拓扑优化的数值框架，以及用于优化嵌入式压电堆栈执行器的尺寸、位置和方向的复合多层几何投影方法。它们的机电特性在基于连续体的设置中由方向和几何相关的等效材料模型表示，并且它们的激活取决于结构中导电材料的分布。此外，提出了对执行器极化的新颖约束，以避免可能导致其机械性能退化的不需要的设计。分析和讨论了一组数值例子。所提出的框架展现出了有希望的结果，与基准问题相比有了显着的改进。