Optimal placement of piezoelectric macro fiber composite patches on composite plates for vibration suppression

Abstract

This work presents a new methodology for the parametric optimization of piezoelectric actuators installed in laminated composite structures, with the objective of controlling structural vibrations. Problem formulation is the optimum location of a Macro Fiber Composite (MFC) actuator patch by means the maximization of the controllability index. The control strategy is based on a Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) approach. For the structural analysis, the modeling of the interaction between the MFC and the structure is made taking into account the active material as one of the orthotropic laminate shell layers. The actuation itself is modeled as an initial strain arising from the application of an electric potential which deforms the rest of the structure. Thereby, modeling the electric field and the electromechanical coupling within the actuator is avoided because these effects are considered analytically. Numerical simulations show that the structural model presents good agreement with numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, the results show that optimizing the location of the actuator in the structure helps the control algorithm to reduce induced structural vibration.