On the Application of Shunted Piezoelectric Material to Enhance Structural Damping of a Plate

In this work the application of resistively shunted piezoelectric material for reducing vibration amplitudes of a plate is studied. The ability to tailor the frequency-dependent loss factor is a consequence of the applied passive electrical network. To predict the damping performance of resistively shunted piezoelectrics, an approach based on the effective strain energy fraction is proposed. A finite element model may be used to accurately determine the effective modal strain energy fraction. However, for placing purposes of the piezoelectric elements, an analytical model, which does not account for local stiffening due to the piezoceramics, can be used. Design considerations include the frequency dependence of piezoceramic properties as well as the effect of stiff piezoceramic material on mode shapes. Experimental results are presented for a rectangular plate with eight pairs of resistively shunted piezoelectric elements.