This ERA-Net MATERA project aims to develop a vibration control technology to enable higher performance and lightweight structural systems. The proposed technology involves reducing detrimental vibration in flexible structures and systems by active and/or passive procedures. Passive procedures include structural optimization and apply passive damping treatments: viscoelastic constraint layers and shunted piezoceramics. Active procedures include the use of piezoelectric material in the form of layers or patches embedded and/or surface bonded combined to control systems to couple sensor measurements to actuator forces via distributed or centralized processing to provide the capability to control or adapt the structures dynamic response. In passive control, the material properties of structures such as damping and stiffness are modified so as to change the response of structure. In active control, the structural response is controlled by adding external effort to the structure.

ADYMA proposes to develop an advanced multi-physics (thermo-electromechanical) modelling of multifunctional multilayered (elastic, viscoelastic, piezoelectric) composite structures; to improve the characterisation of electro-mechanical properties of materials and structures (including direct and inverse identification techniques), to investigate the formulation of the optimisation problems as well as the development of experimental design and response surface techniques with the purposes to get structures with maximum damping, to control vibrations and to get optimum design of the structure or a part of it. The project partners will use the results developed in former research projects such as CASSEM (FP6-NMP3-CT-2005-013517) and Concurrent Modelling Tool Development projects (CRP/HTU/03/007) to develop non-linear controllers to improve control performances of the investigated systems. In addition, we will develop algorithms and methodologies well adapted for damped structures and, if possible, taking advantage of the passive damping mechanism. Besides its scientific aims, this project has also the goal to contribute directly to specific industrial applications since the final research activity will be devoted to a full scale validation of the obtained numerical results. The project is based on interdisciplinary scientific co-operation since it includes elements of many domains of engineering and physical science. The structure of the consortium combines experimental material science, numerical modelling methods, mathematics and expertise in automation systems and mechatronics with the individual tasks of the consortium members being targeted towards the objective of this research proposal.

Specific S&T objectives of the project

• Improved characterization of electro-mechanical properties of materials and structures (including direct and inverse identification

• Advanced multi-physics (mechanical, electric, thermal) modelling of multifunctional multilayered (elastic, viscoelastic, piezoelectric)

• Innovative (non-linear) vibration (evolutionary) control strategies for active, passive and hybrid multifunctional structures

• Optimization of the location and size of the passive (viscoelastic), active (piezoelectric) and hybrid (passive-active)

• Experimental validation tests on representative structures for relevant applications.