Multi-Objective Optimization of Piezoelectric Actuator Placement for Shape Control of Plates Using Genetic Algorithms

Shape control of adaptive structures using piezoelectric actuators has found a wide range of applications in recent years. In this paper, the problem of finding optimal distribution of piezoelectric actuators and corresponding actuation voltages for static shape control of a plate is formulated as a multi-objective optimization problem. The two conflicting objectives considered are minimization of input control energy and minimization of mean square deviation between the desired and actuated shapes with constraints on the maximum number of actuators and maximum induced stresses. A shear lag model of the smart plate structure is created, and the optimization problem is solved using an evolutionary multi-objective optimization algorithm: nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II. Pareto-optimal solutions are obtained for different case studies. Further, the obtained solutions are verified by comparing them with the single-objective optimization solutions. Attainment surface based performance evaluation of the proposed optimization algorithm has been carried out.