Experimental studies on buckling load enhancement of rectangular columns and thin plates using Piezoelectric actuators

This paper describes an experimental investigation into the effect of piezoelectric force on active control of buckling in glass/epoxy and carbon/epoxy composite columns as well as on aluminium columns and plates. The experimental procedure is outlined and the load strain plots, obtained with and without control are presented. A simple proportional control strategy was adopted for the closed loop control. The composite columns with active control demonstrated about 25% increase in the load carrying capacity compared to those without induced actuation while aluminium column demonstrated an increase of 123%. Experiments on plates demonstrated an increase in axial compressive load capacity of the order of 17% to 33% when compared with plates without control. The results demonstrate that the buckling of the column can be postponed to a higher load by means of feedback using piezoelectric actuators and strain gauge sensors. © Research India Publications.