Experimental investigation on the enhancement of vibration and flutter characteristics of damaged composite plates using piezoelectric patches

Abstract This work presents the enhancement of vibration and flutter characteristics of damaged composite plates using piezoelectric patches experimentally. Different composite plates with and without internal flaw are manufactured initially employing vacuum assisted resin transfer method and piezoelectric patches are bonded over them for active vibration control studies. Cantilevered composite plates with damage at middle and root location are considered. Natural frequency was found to get decreased in experiments as an effect of internal flaw and such deteriorated values of natural frequency got increased after using piezoelectric patches in present study. And, the effective control of the amplitude with present piezoelectric patches happened between 5 and 25 Volts, where it was able to control the amplitude of vibration by 30 % maximum. The wind tunnel test is carried out for composite plate with and without internal flaw. Flutter velocity values are found to be decreased for a composite plate having internal flaw. Enhanced flutter velocity values obtained after applying voltage passively to the control piezo are also presented. Thus the threat due to minor damages in the aerospace structural components made of composites can be repaired with smart materials and hence the dynamic aeroelastic boundaries can be kept in safe zone.