FEA-based impedance method for designing active structures

Andrew G. Littlefield; James A. Fairweather; Kevin C. Craig

doi:10.1117/12.388868

22 June 2000 FEA-based impedance method for designing active structures

Andrew G. Littlefield, James A. Fairweather, Kevin C. Craig

Proceedings Volume 3985, Smart Structures and Materials 2000: Smart Structures and Integrated Systems; (2000) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.388868
Event: SPIE's 7th Annual International Symposium on Smart Structures and Materials, 2000, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

The impedance method predicts the response of a structure to piezoelectric patch actuators. The drawback has always been that the structure's impedances had to be calculated analytically. This work uses fmite element analysis (FEA) to generate the structure's impedances from eigenvectors. This approach allows for the method to be applied to a much wider variety of structures than before, as for many structures of interest the necessary closed form expressions do not exist. At present, the method has been used with two-dimensional structures, though it should be extendable to any structure that can be accurately modeled by FEA. From a single fmite element run, multiple actuator and response locations can be examined. The equations to recover the impedances and structure's response from a FEA normal mode analysis are developed. The method is then experimentally verified for plates with different boundary conditions, material types, and actuator orientations. Comparisons are made between calculating the impedances using just the eigenvectors at the center points of the patch sides and using a shape function to describe the eigenvectors along the patch sides. The method is found to accurately predict the plate's response. In several cases the predicted response fell within the range of experimentally recovered responses.

Citation Download Citation

Andrew G. Littlefield, James A. Fairweather, and Kevin C. Craig "FEA-based impedance method for designing active structures", Proc. SPIE 3985, Smart Structures and Materials 2000: Smart Structures and Integrated Systems, (22 June 2000); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.388868

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