Simulation and study of passive shunt damping of a composite plate by embedded PZT transducers

Abstract: This report investigates the possibility of simulating a fiber composite plate with embedded piezoelectric transducers connected to shunt circuits in order to control vibration. The simulation model is validated in steps of discipline, both analytic and experimentally. First the piezoelectric material used is studied where comparisons are done between analytic and numerical results to ensure electromechnical coupling. Next the interaction with structures are studied by bonding piezoelectric transducers to an aluminum cantilever and study the structural response, where numerical results are compared to experimental data. Piezoelectric shunt damping is studied by connecting a tuned shunt circuit to a piezoelectric transducer, the results from the simulation model are then compared to experimental data where an attenuation of 12 dB is experimentally verified for the first mode. Lastly, all aspects above are implemented in a simulation model to estimate structural behavior of an arbitrary fiber composite plate with embedded piezoelectric transducers. The software used for numerical finite element simulation is Comsol Multiphysics 5.2.