A theoretical study of a smart electromechanical tuned mass damper beam device

Research into piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting (PVEH) beams has so far largely overlooked the fact that these are, in many practical applications, mechanical absorbers of the vibration of the structure to which they are attached. This paper introduces the novel concept of utilizing a PVEH beam as a tuned mass damper (TMD) - which suppresses a particular vibration mode of a generic host structure over a broad band of excitation frequencies. This device comprises a pair of bimorphs shunted by resistor-capacitor-inductor circuitry. The optimal damping required by this TMD is generated by the PVEH effect of the bimorphs. The theoretical basis of this dual PVEH/TMD beam device is presented and verified by alternative analytical methods. The simulation results demonstrate that the ideal degree of vibration attenuation can be achieved through appropriate tuning of the circuitry for a device whose effective mass is less than 2% of the equivalent modal mass of the host structure. The proposed dual PVEH/TMD beam device combines the relative advantages of the classical (mechanical) TMD and the shunted piezoelectric patch (electrical vibration absorber), presenting the prospect of a functionally more readily adaptable class of electromechanical tuned vibration absorbers. © 2012 IOP Publishing Ltd.