Analytical and experimental investigations on vibrational control mechanisms for flexible active structures

The study of smart structures with active devices of sensors and actuators for self-monitoring and self-adaption has been of much recent research interest. Active vibrational control is a major application focus and there has been a tremendous amount of research work on active vibrational control of flexible structures using piezoelectric materials. In this paper, the control mechanism for a flexible cantilever plate structure using surface-bonded piezoelectric sensors and actuators has been studied through analytical simulations and experiments. The sensor outputs were used to determine the amount of input to the actuators for controlling the response of the structure in a closed loop. The responses under different control mechanisms were analysed by a three-dimensional finite element model. The effectiveness of different feedback control methods in altering system characteristics and system responses of the structure was investigated. Experimental investigations on active vibrational control were also conducted on a cantilever plate with surface-bonded piezoelectric sensors and actuators.