Experimental verification of models of piezoelectrically actuated structures

Abstract

Piezoelectrically controlled structures are currently being investigated for noise control, rotating machinery vibration control, and large space structure control. A model of piezoelectrically controlled structures has been developed that takes into account structures with distributed parameters, Timoshenko deformation assumptions, multiple piezoelectric layers, energy dissipation mechanisms in the structure, and the electrical boundary conditions on the piezoelectric layers [H. H. Cudney, Ph.D. dissertation, SUNY. Buffalo (1989)]. The objective of this research is to verify by experiment the PDE model developed for multiple layers of piezoelectric material attached to a beam. The experiments investigate the accuracy of both shear‐lag and ideal models of strain transfer between the structure and the piezoelectric material. The effect of piezoelectric polymer film and piezoelectric ceramics on the damping ratios and natural frequencies of the structure is measured. The effect of varying the electrical boundary conditions on the dynamic response of the structure is demonstrated. The results of using several thin layers of piezoelectric material to control beam vibrations are compared to using only a single thick layer of piezoelectric material. [Work supported by DARPA.]