Optimal Location of Piezoelectric Patch in Passive Vibration Control

The importance of placing the piezoelectric patch at the optimal location for getting the maximum vibration control using the shunt circuit technique is discussed here. A shunt circuit damper converts the mechanical vibration to the electrical energy, which is then dissipated as heat using resistors. The energy dissipated by the device increases with respect to the energy absorbed by the piezoelectric patch in the circuit. Hence, placing the patch in a location where it can produce maximum electric potential results maximum energy dissipation. Performance of this device is investigated on an aluminium cantilever beam for three types of shunt circuit conditions by optimising the design variables using genetic algorithm and fmincon in MATLAB. Further, sensitivity analysis shows that the arbitrary placing of the patch causes detuning at some locations and induces negative damping to the system. The numerical study indicates that at the optimal location, the performance of the device improves significantly in terms of percentage reduction in tip velocity. Moreover, a considerable reduction in the resistance value is obtained by the use of genetic algorithm.