Piezoelectric Actuators for Distributed Vibration Excitation of Thin Plates

The behavior of two dimensional patches of piezoelectric material bonded to the surface of elastic distributed structures and used as vibration actuators is analytically investigated. A static analysis is used to estimate the loads induced by the piezoelectric actuator to the supporting elastic structure. The theory is then applied to develop an approximate dynamic model for the vibration response of a simply supported elastic rectangular plate excited by a piezoelectric patch of variable rectangular geometry. The results demonstrate that modes can be selectively excited and that the geometry of the actuator shape markedly affects the distribution of the response among modes. It thus appears possible to tailor the shape of the actuator to either excite or suppress particular modes leading to improved control behavior.