A Study of the Response of a Simply Supported Beam to Excitation by a Piezoelectric Actuator

This article presents a dynamic model of the response of a simply sup ported beam to excitation by actuators made using piezoelectric ceramics glued to the beam surface. The dynamic extensional strain on the beam surface is calculated by includ ing the free stress conditions at the piezoelectric actuator boundaries and by considering the dynamic coupling between the actuator and the structure. The results obtained from this analysis are compared with those from past studies, which were based on the assump tion of static coupling between the structure and the actuator. The analysis shows that the strain field (and so the beam displacement) close to the actuator is significantly different from that obtained by using static stress analysis results, and that to obtain an accurate description of the response, the coupled structural and piezoceramic actuator system must be modelled dynamically.