Shape Control using Smart Material

Now a day, there is a demand for highly precise structures in Aeronautical and Astronautical industries. Some of the examples of such a requirement of highly precise structures are the reflecting surfaces of space antenna, aerodynamic surfaces of aircraft wings, hydrodynamic surfaces of submarines, in all above examples if shape of surfaces are not precise then performance of such a structures are going to be degraded. Significant time and cost are spent during fabrication, analysis and ground tests to minimize and determine the surface errors. Control cost minimization behind the precise control of shapes of the structures is the essential requirement. Smart sensors and actuators with the ability to correct on-orbit surface errors have great potential for use in these microwave devices. Smart actuators can also provide a desired change in antenna structure shape due to change in coverage requirements. Therefore, smart structure technology has the potential of not only improving the performance of these structures, but also reduction in cost for analyses and ground tests.