Dynamic analysis of coupled piezoelectric motivator system with flexible connections

Abstract

This study comprehensively analyzes the dynamic responses for sandwich coupled piezoelectric motivator system (CPMS) with flexible connections including couplings and supports. The excitation equations are derived independently to obtain the external rotor loads of various forms such as moving concentrated or moving distributed loads. Based on the coordinates transformation and wave numbers recombination, a solution for the coupling of multi-segment structures in arbitrary form is given by using the method of reverberation-ray matrix (MRRM). The novel feature of this approach lies in that the piezoelectric vibrator of straight-straight, straight-curved coupling under moving load with arbitrary patterns can be solved uniformly, and the connection stiffness at each node can be controlled by the virtual springs. Afterwards, a detailed visualization and parametric discussion are performed to investigate the dynamic transverse displacements, which shows that the loading velocity and width can significantly affect the dynamic characteristics of CPMS within a certain range, and the vibration responses between the unloaded and loaded sections are related. Furthermore, the geometric parameters and thermoelectric effects also play significant roles on the dynamic responses in corresponding load velocity range.