Piezoelectric patches with multi-resonant shunts for multiple frequency band vibration control

This paper presents a simulation and experimental study on the flexural response of rectangular thin panels equipped with shunted piezoelectric patches for multiple frequency band vibration control. The piezoelectric patches are connected to electrical multi-resonant shunt circuits, composed of several parallel RLC branches. Each branch is adjusted in such a way as to control the plate flexural response in a given frequency band. A practical methodology based on the maximisation of the electrical power absorption is proposed to set RLC branch components in such a way as to reduce the flexural response of the panel. The vibration control effects are investigated with reference to the PSD of the total flexural kinetic energy of the panel and the PSD of the total electrical power absorbed by the shunt circuits. The study shows that the proposed tuning procedure can be effectively used to set the RLC components of the shunts in such a way as to reduce low-frequency resonance peaks of the plate flexural response.