FINITE ELEMENT FORMULATION AND ACTIVE VIBRATION CONTROL STUDY ON BEAMS USING SMART CONSTRAINED LAYER DAMPING (SCLD) TREATMENT

This work deals with the active vibration control of beams with smart constrained layer damping (SCLD) treatment. SCLD design consists of viscoelastic shear layer sandwiched between two layers of piezoelectric sensors and actuator. This composite SCLD when bonded to a vibrating structure acts as a smart treatment. The sensor piezoelectric layer measures the vibration response of the structure and a feedback controller is provided which regulates the axial deformation of the piezoelectric actuator (constraining layer), thereby providing adjustable and significant damping in the structure. The damping offered by SCLD treatment has two components, active action and passive action. The active action is transmitted from the piezoelectric actuator to the host structure through the viscoelastic layer. The passive action is through the shear deformation in the viscoelastic layer. The active action apart from providing direct active control also adjusts the passive action by regulating the shear deformation in the structure. The passive damping component of this design eliminates spillover, reduces power consumption, improves robustness and reliability of the system, and reduces vibration response at high-frequency ranges where active damping is difficult to implement. A beam finite element model has been developed based on Timoshenko's beam theory with partially covered SCLD. The Golla-Hughes-McTavish (GHM) method has been used to model the viscoelastic layer. The dissipation co-ordinates, defined using GHM approach, describe the frequency-dependent viscoelastic material properties. Models of PCLD and purely active systems could be obtained as a special case of SCLD. Using linear quadratic regulator (LQR) optimal control, the effects of the SCLD on vibration suppression performance and control effort requirements are investigated. The effects of the viscoelastic layer thickness and material properties on the vibration control performance are investigated.     

Active control of geometrically nonlinear transient vibration of composite plates with piezoelectric actuators

In this paper, the incremental finite element equations for geometric non-linear analysis of piezoelectric smart structures are developed using a total Lagrange approach by using virtual velocity incremental variational principles. A four-node first order shear plate element model with reduced and selective integration is also developed. Geometrically non-linear transient vibration response and control of plates with piezoelectric patches subjected to pulse loads are investigated. Active damping is introduced on the plates by coupling a self-sensing and negative velocity feedback algorithm in a closed control loop. The numerical results show that piezoelectric actuators can introduce significant damping and suppress transient vibration effectively. The effects of the number and locations of the piezoelectric actuators on the control system are also discussed.     

Dynamic Modeling and Analysis of Wind Turbine Blade of Piezoelectric Plate Shell

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of vibration control technology of wind turbine blades made of piezoelectric intelligent structures. The design of the blade structure, which is made from piezoelectric material, is approximately equivalent to a flat shell structure. The differential equations of piezoelectric shallow shells for vibration control are derived based on piezoelectric laminated shell theory. On this basis, wind turbine blades are simplified as elastic piezoelectric laminated shells. We establish the electromechanical coupling system dynamic model of intelligent structures and the dynamic equation of composite piezoelectric flat shell structures by analyzing simulations of active vibration control. Simulation results show that, under wind load, blade vibration is reduced upon applying the control voltage.     

Modeling and analysis of laminate composite plates with embedded active-passive piezoelectric networks

The objective of this work is to present the finite element modeling of laminate composite plates with embedded piezoelectric patches or layers that are then connected to active-passive resonant shunt circuits, composed of resistance, inductance and voltage source. Applications to passive vibration control and active control authority enhancement are also presented and discussed. The finite element model is based on an equivalent single layer theory combined with a third-order shear deformation theory. A stress-voltage electromechanical model is considered for the piezoelectric materials fully coupled to the electrical circuits. To this end, the electrical circuit equations are also included in the variational formulation. Hence, conservation of charge and full electromechanical coupling are guaranteed. The formulation results in a coupled finite element model with mechanical (displacements) and electrical (charges at electrodes) degrees of freedom. For a Graphite-Epoxy (Carbon-Fibre Reinforced) laminate composite plate, a parametric analysis is performed to evaluate optimal locations along the plate plane (xy) and thickness (z) that maximize the effective modal electromechanical coupling coefficient. Then, the passive vibration control performance is evaluated for a network of optimally located shunted piezoelectric patches embedded in the plate, through the design of resistance and inductance values of each circuit, to reduce the vibration amplitude of the first four vibration modes. A vibration amplitude reduction of at least 10 dB for all vibration modes was observed. Then, an analysis of the control authority enhancement due to the resonant shunt circuit, when the piezoelectric patches are used as actuators, is performed. It is shown that the control authority can indeed be improved near a selected resonance even with multiple pairs of piezoelectric patches and active-passive circuits acting simultaneously.     

Optimal vibration control of smart fiber reinforced composite shell structures using improved genetic algorithm

In the present article, an improved genetic algorithm (GA) based optimal vibration control of smart fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite shell structures has been presented. Layered shell finite elements have been formulated and the formulation has been validated for coupled electromechanical analysis of curved smart FRP composite structures having piezoelectric sensors and actuators patches. An integer-coded GA-based open-loop procedure has been used for optimal placement of actuators for maximizing controllability index and a real-coded GA-based linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control scheme has been implemented for optimal control of the smart shell structures in order to maximize the closed-loop damping ratio while keeping actuators voltages within the limit of breakdown voltage. Results obtained from the present work show that this combined GA-based optimal actuators placement and GA-based LQR control scheme is far superior to conventional active vibration control using LQR schemes and simple placement of actuators reported in literatures. Results also show that the present improved GA-based combined optimal placement and LQR control scheme not only leads to increased closed-loop damping ratio but also shows a drastic reduction in input/actuation voltage compared to the already published results.     

Motion planning and actuator specialization in the control of active-flexible link robots

Trajectory planning is a well-known open-loop control strategy to minimize residual vibrations in point-to-point tasks of systems featuring mechanical flexibility. However, the major drawback of open-loop control is its limitation in coping with modeling uncertainty. In this paper a novel approach to trajectory planning based on LQR theory is proposed and applied to a single flexible link robot. To improve performance under parameter uncertainty the strategy is combined with collocated vibration control through piezoelectric actuation of the link. This combination raises the issue of the roles and the contribution of each actuator type to the overall performance of the maneuver. An actuator specialization is proposed where the joint controller is responsible for the gross vibrationless motion of the link, while the link actuators are expected to deal only with residual vibrations that may arise from modeling errors. Simulation and experimental results validate the trajectory planning methodology and the combination of the open-loop strategy with collocated vibration control.     

Nonlinear dynamic response and active vibration control for piezoelectric functionally graded plate

The nonlinear dynamic response and active vibration control of the piezoelectric functionally graded plate are analyzed in this paper. Based on higher-order shear plate theory and elastic piezoelectric theory, the nonlinear geometric and constitutive relations of the piezoelectric functionally graded plate are established, and then the nonlinear motion equations of the piezoelectric functionally graded plate are obtained through Hamilton's variational principle. The nonlinear active vibration control of the structure is carried out with adoption of the negative velocity feedback control algorithm. By applying finite difference method, the whole problem is solved by using iterative method synthetically. In numerical examples, the effects of mechanical load, electric load, the volume fraction and the geometric parameters on the dynamic response and vibration control of the piezoelectric FGM plate are investigated.     

DYNAMICS AND DISTRIBUTED CONTROL OF CONICAL SHELLS LAMINATED WITH FULL AND DIAGONAL ACTUATORS

Nozzles, rocket fairings and many engineering structures/components are often made of conical shells. This paper focuses on the finite element modelling, analysis, and control of conical shells laminated with distributed actuators. Electromechanical constitutive equations and governing equations of a generic piezo(electric)elastic continuum are defined first, followed by the strain-displacement relations and electric field-potential relations of laminated shell composites. Finite element formulation of a piezoelastic shell element with non-constant Lamé parameters is briefly reviewed; element and system matrix equations of the piezoelastic shell sensor/actuator/structure laminate are derived. The system equation reveals the coupling of mechanical and electric fields, in which the electric force vector is often used in distributed control of shells. Finite element eigenvalue solutions of conical shells are compared with published numerical results first. Distributed control of the conical shell laminated with piezoelectric shell actuators is investigated and control effects of three actuator configurations are evaluated.     

Analysis on vibration characteristics of large-size rectangular piezoelectric composite plate based on quasi-periodic phononic crystal structure

Based on the theory of composite materials and phononic crystals (PCs), a large-size rectangular piezoelectric composite plate with the quasi-periodic PC structure composed of PZT-4 and epoxy is proposed in this paper. This PC structure can suppress the transverse vibration of the piezoelectric composite plate so that the thickness mode is purer and the thickness vibration amplitude is more uniform. Firstly, the vibration of the model is analyzed theoretically, the electromechanical equivalent circuit diagram of three-dimensional coupled vibration is established, and the resonance frequency equation is derived. The effects of the length, width, and thickness of the piezoelectric composite plate at the resonant frequency are obtained by the analytical method and the finite element method, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient is also analyzed. The results show that the resonant frequency can be changed regularly and the electromechanical conversion can be improved by adjusting the size of the rectangular piezoelectric plate. The effect of the volume fraction of the scatterer on the resonant frequency in the thickness direction is studied by the finite element method. The band gap in X and Y directions of large-size rectangular piezoelectric plate with quasi-periodic PC structures are calculated. The results show that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the simulation results. When the resonance frequency is in the band gap, the decoupling phenomenon occurs, and then the vibration mode in the thickness direction is purer.     

Coupling analysis of a matched piezoelectric sensor and actuator pair for vibration control of a smart beam

This paper presents a theoretical and experimental study of the in-plane and out-of-plane coupling of a matched piezoelectric sensor/actuator pair bonded on a beam. Both the sensor and actuator are triangularly shaped polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) transducers and are intended to provide a compact sensor/actuator system for beam vibration control. The measured sensor-actuator frequency response function has shown an unpredicted increase in magnitude with frequency, which was found, to be due to in-plane vibration coupling. An analytical model has been developed to decompose the sensor-actuator response function into an in-plane contribution and an out-of-plane contribution. This in-plane coupling can limit the feedback control gains when a direct velocity feedback control is applied. A method called the j omega s compensation method is proposed to identify the effect of the in-plane vibration coupling at low frequencies. Even after this compensation, however, there was unexpected strong out-of-plane coupling at even modes, which may have been caused by a lack of accuracy in the shaping of the PVDF sensor and actuator. Numerical simulations have confirmed the sensitivity of the matched sensor/actuator pair with shaping errors.     

Mode analysis of trilaminar bender bar transducers using an approximation method

Based on the vibration theory of a thin plate, an analytical treatment of the trilaminar bender bar with piezoelectric elements and inert substrate of various lengths is presented for mode analysis. Resonance frequency and effective electromechanical coupling coefficient are calculated by this method. The impacts of the geometries of the bender bar on the performance of its fundamental and third-order flexural mode are investigated in detail under rigid boundary conditions. It is shown that resonance frequency is extremely sensitive to the thickness of inert substrate. Moreover, the effective electromechanical coupling coefficient has peaks as the length of piezoelectric elements varies. The peaks are achieved when the length of piezoelectric elements equals the length between two nodes having zero strains in the x-direction. The trilaminar bender bar will be effectively excited when the strains on the piezoelectric element are in the same phase, which is important to disclose the vibration mechanisms of this kind of transducer. Also, analytical results are compared with the ones of numerical simulation. The results suggest that effective electromechanical coupling coefficient shares similar patterns with electrical conductance, which can be used to characterize transducer performance to a certain extent. It also demonstrates that the analytical treatment provides an efficient alternative way for optimizing the bender bar transducer design.     

Modeling of lamb waves generated by integrated transducers in composite plates using a coupled finite element-normal modes expansion method

Thin piezoelectric transducers attached to or embedded within composite structures could be used for in situ structural health monitoring. For plate-shaped structures, the useful ultrasonic vibration modes are Lamb waves. Preliminary testing has already demonstrated the suitability and practical feasibility of such integrated transducers, but better control of the generation of Lamb modes seems to be necessary. Therefore, an original modeling approach has been developed, which can be used to design and optimize these "sensitive materials." This modeling technique allows the determination of the amplitude of each Lamb mode excited in a composite plate with surface-bonded or bulk-embedded piezoelectric elements. The method consists of a coupling of the finite element method (FEM) and the normal modes expansion method. The limited finite element mesh of the transducer and its vicinity enables the computation of the mechanical field created by the transducer, which is then introduced as a forcing function into the normal modes equations. The adequacy and accuracy of this modeling method have been numerically and experimentally verified.     

Reduction of radiated exterior noise from the flexible vibrating plate of a rectangular enclosure using multi-channel active control

This study attempted to control the radiated exterior noise from a rectangular enclosure in which an internal plate vibrates by acoustic excitation and noise is thus radiated from that plate. Multi-channel active control was applied to reduce the vibration and external radiation of this enclosed plate. A piezoelectric ceramic was used as a distributed actuator for multiple mode control of the vibration and radiated noise in the acoustically excited plate. To maximize the effective control, an approach was proposed for attachment the piezoelectric actuator in the optimal location. The plate and internal acoustic space in the enclosure are coupled with each other. This will change dominant frequency characteristics of the plate and, thus, those of the externally radiated noise. Active noise control was accomplished using an accelerometer attached to the plate and a microphone placed adjacent to that plate as an error sensor under acoustic excitation of sine wave and white noise. It was found that the control of radiated external radiation noise requires a microphone as an error sensor, a sound pressure sensor due to vibration of the plate, differences in the dominant frequency of externally radiated noise, and complex vibration modes of the plate.     

A generic double-curvature piezoelectric shell energy harvester: Linear/nonlinear theory and applications

Converting vibration energy to useful electric energy has attracted much attention in recent years. Based on the electromechanical coupling of piezoelectricity, distributed piezoelectric zero-curvature type (e.g., beams and plates) energy harvesters have been proposed and evaluated. The objective of this study is to develop a generic linear and nonlinear piezoelectric shell energy harvesting theory based on a double-curvature shell. The generic piezoelectric shell energy harvester consists of an elastic double-curvature shell and piezoelectric patches laminated on its surface(s). With a current model in the closed-circuit condition, output voltages and energies across a resistive load are evaluated when the shell is subjected to harmonic excitations. Steady-state voltage and power outputs across the resistive load are calculated at resonance for each shell mode. The piezoelectric shell energy harvesting mechanism can be simplified to shell (e.g., cylindrical, conical, spherical, paraboloidal, etc.) and non-shell (beam, plate, ring, arch, etc.) distributed harvesters using two Lamé parameters and two curvature radii of the selected harvester geometry. To demonstrate the utility and simplification procedures, the generic linear/nonlinear shell energy harvester mechanism is simplified to three specific structures, i.e., a cantilever beam case, a circular ring case and a conical shell case. Results show the versatility of the generic linear/nonlinear shell energy harvesting mechanism and the validity of the simplification procedures.     

Optimal locations and orientations of piezoelectric transducers on cylindrical shell based on gramians of contributed and undesired Rayleigh–Ritz modes using genetic algorithm

In this study, the active vibration control and configurational optimization of a cylindrical shell are analyzed by using piezoelectric transducers. The piezoelectric patches are attached to the surface of the cylindrical shell. The Rayleigh–Ritz method is used for deriving dynamic modeling of cylindrical shell and piezoelectric sensors and actuators based on the Donnel–Mushtari shell theory. The major goal of this study is to find the optimal locations and orientations of piezoelectric sensors and actuators on the cylindrical shell. The optimization procedure is designed based on desired controllability and observability of each contributed and undesired mode. Further, in order to limit spillover effects, the residual modes are taken into consideration. The optimization variables are the positions and orientations of piezoelectric patches. Genetic algorithm is utilized to evaluate the optimal configurations. In this article, for improving the maximum power and capacity of actuators for amplitude depreciation of negative velocity feedback strategy, we have proposed a new control strategy, called “Saturated Negative Velocity Feedback Rule (SNVF)”. The numerical results show that the optimization procedure is effective for vibration reduction, and specifically, by locating actuators and sensors in their optimal locations and orientations, the vibrations of cylindrical shell are suppressed more quickly.     

Control of a rotating cantilever beam using a torque actuator and a distributed piezoelectric polymer actuator

A torque actuator and a distributed piezoelectric polymer (PVDF) actuator are utilized for control of a rotating cantilever flexible beam. The torque control contains proportional and derivative (PD) feedback for rigid motion control and a PVDF actuator control for vibration damping. Unlike previous approaches in the literature in which the angular velocity feedback was utilized, in this study we propose to use the linear velocity feedback (L-type) in our controller design for feasible implementation and avoiding modal truncation. The stability of the system with the L-type control has been analyzed, using the concept of a virtual joint model. The advantage of the proposed scheme lies in easy implementation, avoidance of modal truncation, efficient suppression of the dominant mode of vibration, and allowing high-speed motions. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.     

Active control of a piezo-composite rotating beam using coupled plant dynamics

Optimal control of a thin-walled rotating beam is considered using a higher-order shear deformation theory (HSDT). The beam is pretwisted, doubly tapered, and carries a tip rotor. It comprises an orthotropic host with surface-embedded transversely isotropic piezoelectric sensor-actuator pairs. Spanwise and thicknesswise variation of the electric field applied to actuators is considered. This yields a coupled electro-mechanical system, wherein all displacement variables are coupled via the electric field. Hence, coupling between bending-transverse shear and extension-twist occurs even when the ply angle configuration has circumferentially uniform stiffness. Optimal LQR control with state feedback is used to obtain the control input, i.e., charge density (hence voltage) applied to actuators. Parametric studies involving ply-angle, rotation speeds of beam and rotor, pretwist, taper, rotor mass, and saturation constraint on actuator voltage, are performed. The HSDT yields lowest coupled natural frequencies (as compared to unshearable and first-order shear models) thus providing conservative data, useful for passive and active control designs. The present plant model, with spanwise varying electric field, yields an order-of-magnitude reduction in settling time and control voltage, and lower response, vis-a-vis the decoupled approach.     

Numerical and experimental investigations of actuating characteristics of laminated polyvinylidene fluoride actuator used on paraboloidal shells

The effect of a laminated polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) actuator is analyzed when partially covering a paraboloidal shell. Models of control forces are established using the thin flexible shell theory and the membrane approximation. Analytical expressions of actuating forces and moments are derived and a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the effects of the physical properties of the actuator on the control forces. To verify the model, experiments were carried out on actuation and open-loop vibration control of a paraboloidal antenna with a much smaller actuator. The experimental results agree well with those obtained analytically. The results indicate the following: The laminated PVDF actuator (LPA) can provide effective control forces with low voltages. The control forces consist of actuating forces and moments, but the effect of the normal actuation force distribution is much greater than that of the actuation moments in controlling the normal vibration. The larger the curvature radius of the paraboliodal shell, the smaller the magnitudes of the required actuating forces. The magnitudes of actuating forces are approximately linear with the number of PVDF layers.     

Distributed shell control with a new multi-DOF photostrictive actuator design

With the photovoltaic effect and the converse piezoelectric effect, the lanthanum-modified lead zirconate titanate (PLZT) actuator can transform the narrow-band photonic energy to mechanical strain/stress—the photodeformation effect. This photodeformation process can be further used for non-contact precision actuation and control in various structural, biomedical and electromechanical systems. Although there are a number of design configurations of distributed actuators, e.g., segmentation and shaping, been investigated over the years, this study is to explore a new actuator configuration spatially bonded on the surface of shell structures to enhance the spatial modal controllability. A mathematical model of a new multiple degree-of-freedom (multi-DOF) photostrictive actuator configuration is presented first, followed by the photostrictive/shell coupling equations of a cylindrical shell structure laminated with the newly proposed multi-DOF distributed actuator. Distributed microscopic photostrictive actuation and its contributing components of a one-piece actuator and the multi-DOF actuator are evaluated in the modal domain. Effects of shell's curvature and actuator's size are also evaluated. Parametric analyses suggest that the new multi-DOF distributed actuator, indeed, provides better performance and control effect to shell actuation and control. This multi-DOF configuration can be further applied to actuation and control of various shell and non-shell structures.     

Active suppression of panel flutter with piezoelectric actuators using eigenvector orientation method

This paper examines the use of eigenvector orientation method to detect the onset of subsonic and supersonic flutter of panels modeled by finite elements. The accuracy of the eigenvector orientation method for prediction of the flutter boundary (indicated by a gradual loss of orthogonality between two eigenvectors) is demonstrated by using the examples of a swept-back cantilever plate model at subsonic speed and a simply supported plate model at supersonic speed. Piezoelectric layers are assumed to be bonded to the top and bottom surfaces of the simply supported plate in order to provide bending moments to control motions of each finite element. An approach of optimal control design is presented to actively suppress the possible flutter based on linear quadratic regulator theory and the nonlinear modal equations of motions. To illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of using the piezoelectric layers as controllers, several cases are studied and presented. The effects of varying locations of control moments are studied so as to fulfill the objective of adjusting the flutter speed to be within a desirable range. The results illustrate that the control moment manipulation can offset the flutter occurrence and additionally generate a lead time for possibly executing flutter control.