Shape control of an eccentrically loaded column by means of a piezoceramic rod

In this study, the usefulness of an actuator in the form of a piezoceramic rod discretely attached to a host column for the purpose of suppressing the lateral deflection of the eccentrically loaded structure is investigated. The load eccentricity is treated as a result of an imprecise manufacturing or improper assembling processes of supporting and loading heads. The problem is formulated on the basis of the principle of stationary total potential energy with the use of von Karman non-linear strain–displacement relations and linear constitutive equations for both the piezoelectric and the host column materials. The electro-mechanical coupling is taken into account. The numerical results concern the axial force distribution along members of the structure, resulting from both the external load and the piezoforce generated by the actuator, for different geometries of the system. It is proved that for all configurations of the actuation rod and different eccentricity values, although yielding different prebuckling shape, the column has the same critical load. A thorough discussion of the results is devoted to the elimination of the transversal displacement of the structure to come to a conclusion that the piezoactuation realised using discretely attached piezoceramic rod seems to be a very effective way of controlling the shape of the considered type of structures.