Effective Placement of a Cantilever Resonator on Flexible Primary Structure for Vibration Control Applications—Part 1: Mathematical Modeling and Analysis

In this Part 1 of a two-part series, the theoretical modeling and optimization are presented. More specifically, the effect of attachment location on the dynamics of a flexible beam system is studied using a theoretical model. Typically, passive/active resonators for vibration suppression of flexible systems are uniaxial and can only affect structure response in the direction of the applied force. The application of piezoelectric bender actuators as active resonators may prove to be advantageous over typical, uniaxial actuators as they can dynamically apply both a localized moment and translational force to the base structure attachment point. Assuming unit impulse force disturbance, potential actuator/sensor performance for the secondary beam can be quantified by looking at fractional root-mean-square (RMS) strain energy in the actuator relative to the total system, and normalized RMS strain energy in the actuator over a frequency band of interest with respect to both disturbance force and actuator beam mount locations. Similarly, by energizing the actuator beam piezoelectric surface with a unit impulse, one can observe RMS base beam tip velocity as a function of actuator beam position. Through such analyses, one can balance both sensor/actuator performance and make conclusions about optimally mounting the actuator beam sensor/actuator. Accounting for both sensing and actuation requirements, the actuator beam should be mounted in the following nondimensionalized region: $0.4≤e≤0.5$⁠.