Synthesizing fluidic flexible matrix composite–based multicellular adaptive structure for prescribed spectral data

A cellular adaptive structure concept based on fluidic flexible matrix composite is investigated for its potential of achieving multifunctionalities simultaneously. This structure consists of a string of fluidic-connected fluidic flexible matrix composite cells with different properties. When under dynamic loading, the structure exhibits distinct poles and zeros (spectral data). These spectral data can be assigned, by tailoring fluidic flexible matrix composite design, so that the structure can perform dynamic functions such as vibration absorption or actuation with enhanced authority. To fully explore the potential of the fluidic flexible matrix composite–based cellular structure, this article carries out two progressive tasks. The first task is to develop a dynamic model for the multicellular structure. This model incorporates the concept of constitutive parameters to describe the performance of individual fluidic flexible matrix composite cell. The second task is to develop a synthesis procedure to assign these constitutive parameters so that the structure can achieve the prescribed spectral data. This procedure combines genetic algorithm with discrete variables and Jacobi inverse eigenvalue problem. Case studies show that the proposed procedure is successful for synthesizing structures with three cells. The range of the achievable spectral data is found through a numerical survey, and for each set of achievable spectral data, multiple designs can be synthesized efficiently.