Study on snap-through actuation for the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly

Abstract

All available theoretical researches on the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly have been fundamentally concerned with the static snap-through, while dynamic researches on the assembly have been more pronounced based on experiments for the dynamic snap-through. However, theoretical researches on both the static and dynamic snap-through for the assembly have hardly been carried out. In this article, the theoretical model for the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly is elaborated, elucidating the static and dynamic snap-through by deploying the static and dynamic voltages. To initiate the static snap-through, the voltage–curvature and voltage–displacement curves are graphically presented, delivering the whole path of the process of the static actuation. To initiate the dynamic snap-through, the assembly is activated dynamically while the MFC actuator is expanded by the dynamic voltage. The dynamic responses for the assembly are characterized by the limit-cycle oscillation, the periodic, and chaotic snap-through and the secondary Hopf bifurcation. The theoretical model proofs the bistable composite laminated shell–MFC assembly to be developed and promising, which provides a validation source for the actuation strategy of the desirable snap-through and the suppression strategy of the undesirable snap-through.

Keywords:

• Bistable
• snap-through
• actuation
• composite laminated shell
• MFC

Additional information

Funding

This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project nos. 12102031, 12002100) and Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Project no. 8202015) and the State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration (Project no. MSV202108).