Vibration-based energy harvesting using piezoelectric cantilevers has been extensively studied over the past decade. As an alternative to cantilevered harvesters, piezoelectric patch harvesters integrated to thin plates can be more convenient for use in marine, aerospace and automotive applications since these systems are often composed of thin plate-like structures with various boundary conditions. In this paper, we present analytical electroelastic modeling of a piezoelectric energy harvester structurally integrated to a thin plate along with experimental validations. The distributed-parameter electroelastic model of the thin plate with the piezoceramic patch harvester is developed based on Kirchhoff's plate theory for all-four-edges clamped (CCCC) boundary conditions. Closed-form steady-state response expressions for coupled electrical output and structural vibration are obtained under transverse point force excitation. Analytical electroelastic frequency response functions (FRFs) relating the voltage output and vibration response to force input are derived and generalized for different boundary conditions. Experimental validation and extensive theoretical analysis efforts are then presented with a case study employing a thin PZT-5A piezoceramic patch attached on the surface of a rectangular aluminum CCCC plate. The importance of positioning of the piezoceramic patch harvester is discussed through an analysis of dynamic strain distribution on the overall plate surface. The electroelastic model is validated by a comparison of analytical and experimental FRFs for a wide range of resistive electrical boundary conditions. Finally, power generation performance of the structurally integrated piezoceramic patch harvester from multiple vibration modes is investigated analytically and experimentally.

This paper studies repetitive control (RC) with linear phase lead compensation to precisely track periodic trajectories in piezo-based scanning probe microscopes (SPMs). Quite often, the lateral scanning motion in SPMs during imaging or nanofabrication is periodic. Dynamic and hysteresis effects in the piezoactuator cause significant tracking error. To minimize the tracking error, commercial SPMs commonly use proportional-integral-derivative (PID) feedback controllers; however, the residual error of PID control can be excessively large, especially at high scan rates. In addition, the error repeats from one operating cycle to the next. To account for the periodic tracking error, a discrete-time RC is designed, analyzed, and implemented on an atomic force microscope (AFM). The advantages of RC include straightforward digital implementation and it can be plugged into an existing feedback control loop, such as PID, to enhance performance. The proposed RC incorporates two phase lead compensators to ensure robustness and minimize the steady-state tracking error. Simulation and experimental results from an AFM system compare the performance among (1) PID, (2) standard RC, and (3) the modified RC with phase lead compensation. The results show that the latter reduces the steady-state tracking error to less than 2% at 25 Hz scan rate, an over 80% improvement compared with PID control.

Structural vibrations are the major causes of noise problems, passenger discomforts, and mechanical failures in aerospace, automotive, and marine systems, which are mainly composed of lightweight and flexible plate-like structures. In order to reduce structural vibrations and noise radiations of lightweight structures, passive and active treatments have been used and investigated over the last three decades. Our aim of this article is to review current state-of-the-art of active vibration and noise suppression systems for plate and plate-like structures with various kinds of boundary conditions. The reviewed articles use numerical methods and experimental tools to study different aspects of controller architectures. In particular, the focus is placed on the active vibration and noise control systems utilizing piezoelectric patches as sensors and actuators since their popularity in vibration-based applications has increased significantly during the last two decades. We first classify the controllers according to their architectures, then compare their performance in vibration and noise attenuation, and finally provide suggestions for further progress. The categorization of the information regarding the controller strategies and sensor/actuator configurations for different host structures can be used by the controller designers as a starting point for their specific configuration.

Several engineering systems, such as aircraft structures, are composed of load-bearing thin plates that undergo vibrations and employ wireless health, usage, and condition monitoring components, which can be made self-powered using vibrational energy harvesting technologies. Integrated piezoelectric patches can be implemented for enabling self-powered sensors in the neighborhood of plate-based structures. In this work, coupled electroelastic modeling and experimental validations of broadband energy harvesting from structurally integrated piezoelectric patches on a rectangular thin plate are presented. A distributed-parameter electroelastic model for multiple patch–based energy harvesters attached on a thin plate is developed. Closed-form structural and electrical response expressions are derived for multiple vibration modes of a fully clamped thin plate for the series and parallel connection configurations of multiple patch–based energy harvesters. Experimental and analytical case studies are then compared for validating the analytical models of structurally integrated multiple patch–based energy harvesters. It is shown that analytical electroelastic frequency response functions exhibit very good agreement with the experimental frequency response function measurements for the series and parallel connection cases. In addition to offering an effective interface for energy harvesting from two-dimensional thin structures, series and parallel multiple patch–based energy harvester configurations yield effective broadband energy harvesting by combining the electrical outputs of harvester patches for multiple vibration modes.

This study presents a numerical and an experimental study on an active vibration control system. The system includes a fully-clamped plate and two surface bonded piezoelectric actuators and a collocated velocity sensor at one of the actuator locations. One of the piezoelectric actuators is used for disturbance actuation and the other one is used for control actuation. A model based optimal velocity feedback controller is used as control algorithm. The disturbance and actuator models are obtained through experimental characterization of the plate under the effect of the disturbance source. A representative SIMULINK model is built in parallel to the development of the experimental setup in order to investigate performance of the controller for various control parameters. After the model based optimal controller is designed, performance of the optimal velocity feedback controller is validated with the experimental study by comparing the vibration suppression values at multiple modes of the structure. Results show that the developed control methodology effectively suppresses the vibration amplitudes at multiple modes of the structure and also vibration attenuation levels can be predicted accurately with the simulations for various controller design parameters. It is also demonstrated that using an optimal controller enhances the performance of the system as opposed to just using velocity feedback algorithm for the active vibration control of the smart plate.