Finite element analysis of cantilever plate structure excited by patches of piezoelectric actuaturs

Interest in the use of smart-structure technology for noise and vibration reduction in several applications has been on the rise in recent years. It has been established that significant gains in structures performance can be achieved through active vibration control. In this study a 3-D finite element analysis for cantilever plate structure excited by patches of piezoelectric actuator is presented. To investigate the influence of actuator location and configuration of piezoelectric actuators attached to the plate structure in order to identify the optimal configuration of the actuators for selective excitation of the mode shapes of the cantilever plate structure. The finite element modelling based on ANSYS package using harmonic analysis is used in this study for cantilever plate structure excited by patch type of piezoelectric actuators . The results clearly indicate optimal locations and configuration of the piezoelectric actuator patches for achieving the excitation of the plate modes. Consequently, the results indicate that effective active damping of structural vibration of the cantilever plate can be achieved by proper positioning of the piezoelectric actuator patches.