Photonic control of cylindrical shells with electro-optic photostrictive actuators

Photostrictive actuator, which can directly turn light energy into mechanical energy, is a new promising photoactuation technique for active vibration control of flexible structures. It offers the advantage of generating distributed actuation strain without connecting any electric lead wires. Photonic control of flexible cylindrical shells using discrete photostrictive actuators is investigated, and the photoactuation effectiveness is evaluated. A coupled optopiezothermoelastic shell theory is presented that incorporates photovoltaic, pyroelectric, piezoelectric, and thermal effects and has the capability to accurately predict the response of a shell to a command illumination applied to the photostrictive actuators. Expressions for the photogenerated forces and moments have been developed. Governing equations are formulated. Solution procedures based on the modal analysis technique are outlined. The detailed actuator control effectiveness is evaluated with respect to actuator placements. It is shown that by properly positioned the actuators the system performance can be improved. Numerical simulation results also show that the membrane control action is more significant than the bending control action. The circumferential membrane control action dominates, and the photonic control effectiveness is only slightly reduced by the removal of all of the actuator patches along the longitudinal direction.