The PVDF-based wave number domain sensing techniques for active sound radiation control from a simply supported beam

Abstract

This work presents a novel wave number domain sensing approach which applies polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films for active structural acoustic control. An array of PVDF strip films is equally distributed over a beam to measure the structural response. The PVDF voltage wave number transform functions can then be obtained by performing the discrete wave number transform on the sensing signals. The cost function can be defined as the sum of mean square values of the supersonic components of the wave number transform function. The linear quadratic optimization process can be applied to obtain the optimal control inputs, thereby minimizing the cost function. This work also considers the simply supported beam with infinite rigid baffle subjected to a harmonic point force disturbance. The PVDF-based wave number domain sensing approach is applied, while piezoelectric actuators are used as control inputs. In addition, the sensing method’s performance is evaluated by comparing with an accelerometer based wave number domain sensing approach. Both continuous and discrete wave number transform approaches are presented as well. Analysis results demonstrate that the wave number domain sensing approach cannot only provide efficient signals that are related to the structure-borne sound, but is also quite effective in controlling sound radiation. This work advances current efforts to apply the sensing ability of intelligent material structure systems to actively control structural sound radiation.