Multimodal passive vibration suppression by using shunted piezoelectrics

Abstract

Piezoelectric elements connected to shunt circuits and bonded to a mechanical structure form a dissipation device that can be designed to add damping to the mechanical system. Due to the piezoelectric effect, part of the vibration energy can be transformed into electrical energy that is conveniently dissipated. Therefore, by using appropriate electrical circuits, it is possible to dissipate strain energy and, as a consequence, vibration is attenuated. The dissipation mechanism can be tuned to attenuate vibration either of a single mode, or multiple modes, according to the design of the shunt circuit and the frequency band of interest. The present contribution discusses the modeling of piezoelectric patches coupled to shunt circuits, where the basic parallel resonant shunt circuit is presented. The modeling of multi-degree-of-freedom mechanical systems, including the effects of the shunt circuit is briefly reviewed. A design methodology for the multi-modal case is discussed. Finally, experimental results are reported, illustrating the success of using the methodology presented, as applied to mechanical and mechatronic systems.