Low-frequency vibration isolation in sandwich plates by piezoelectric shunting arrays

摘要

Piezoelectric shunting arrays are proposed to isolate low-frequency vibrations transmitted in sandwich plates. The performance is characterized through application of finite element method. The numerical result shows that a complete band gap, whose width is about 20 Hz, is produced in the desired low-frequency ranges. The band gap is induced by local resonances of the shunting circuits, whose location is strongly related to the inductance, while the resistance can broaden the band gap to some extent. Vibration experiments are conducted on a 1200 x 1000 x 15 mm aluminum honeycomb plate with two arrays of 5 x 5 shunted piezoelectric patches bonded on the surface panels. Significant attenuation is found in the experimental results, which agree well with the theoretical predictions. Consequently, the proposed idea is feasible and effective.