Active/passive hybrid suppression method of nonlinear panel flutter using a piezoelectric material

Abstract

For the suppression of the nonlinear panel flutter, an optimal active/passive hybrid control design is newly proposed using PZT actuators connected in series with an external voltage source and a passive resonant shunt circuit which consists of an inductor and resistor. The shunt circuit should be tuned correctly to suppress the flutter effectively with less control effort as compared to active control system. Otherwise, the actuator may cause the results to be worse than a purely active system. Therefore active control gain is simultaneousl y determined together with passive parameters such as resistance and inductance. The governing equations of the electromechanically coupled composite panel flutter are derived through extended Hamilton's principle and a finite element discretization is carried out. The adopted aerodynamic theory is based on the quasisteady first-order piston theory, and VonKarman nonlinear strain-displacement relation is used. Modal equations are obtained through a modal reduction technique. Optimal control design is based on linear modal equations of motion and numerical simulations are based on nonlinear-cou pled modal equations. Using the Newmark-B method, suppression results are obtained in the time domain. The results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively attenuate the flutter with less control effort as compared to a purely active control system. Nomenclature