Smart membranes for aerospace applications - art. no. 64230U

Very thin shells, shell-membrane and membrane structures offer high actuator authority for controlling their behaviour. On the other side, special care has to be taken for proper material and structural characterisation and its interaction with the actuators. In the paper different types of actuators are discussed in the context of precision shell-membrane space reflectors. For actuation, emphasis is given on piezo-ceramics and electro-active polymers. Special integration, modelling and testing techniques for smart fibre reinforced shell-membranes and membranes are addressed.