A review of manufacturing techniques of smart composite structures with embedded bulk piezoelectric transducers

Since the mid-1980's, sensors and actuators have been combined with composite materials in order to enhance and increase the functionalities of the resulting products. These innovative devices are called intelligent, adaptive or smart structures. Their main applications are related but not limited to vibration control, structural health monitoring, shape control and energy harvesting. One possible way of developing these devices is to embed the smart materials inside the structure. In this case, the main challenge is the way of embedding the smart material during the manufacturing process. This review presents the key elements of the manufacturing process, provides an overview of the techniques developed to embed the bulk piezoelectric transducers in the composite and details the achievements made with them. In conclusion, some guidelines for futures researches and developments are proposed