Dynamic Behavior of Active Lightweight Compliant Mechanisms with Integrated Piezoceramic Actuators by Under- and Overcritical Periodic Excitation

Integration of active elements as thermoplastic-compatible piezoceramic modules in lightweight compliant mechanisms offers the possibility to actively control its structural behavior by static, dynamic or vibro-acoustic loads. New active lightweight structures with material-integrated structural monitoring, energy-harvesting, or active vibration damping functionalities become possible. Previously, a demonstrator mechanism was designed and built, and its behavior under quasi-static excitation was simulated as a multi-body system, using two-layer cells with torsion and traction springs for compliance and linear motors for excitation. The mechanism was later tested to confirm the simulation results. This paper presents a study of the dynamic behavior of active compliant mechanisms obtained by integration of piezoceramic actuators into fiber-reinforced composite structures. The results of the dynamic mechanical simulation procedure were compared with experimental results for a given demonstrator mechanism. The comparison concluded that the simulation procedure describes fairly accurate the real behavior of the lightweight compliant mechanism, thus it can be used in the development of new active structures.