State-Switched Absorber for Vibration Control of Point-Excited Beams

A system that has the capability to make instantaneous changes in its mass, stiffness, or damping may be termed a state-switchable dynamical system. Such a system will display different dynamical responses dependent upon its current state. State-switchable stiffness may be practically obtained through the control of the termination impedance of piezoelectric stiffness elements. If such a switchable stiffness element is incorporated as part of the spring element of a vibration absorber, the change in stiffness causes a change in the resonance frequencies of the system, thereby instantaneously ‘retuning’ the state-switched absorber to a new frequency. In between state switches, the operation of such a device is passive, being fundamentally a passive vibration absorber. This concept has improved performance over classical passive vibration absorbers or dampers, particularly for disturbances with multiple spectral components. This paper considers the application of such a device for the purpose of vibration control on beams subjected to harmonic point-force excitation.