Modeling of a Plate Structure With Piezoelectric Patches: Damping Application

Vibrations in thin structures are often not desired, especially because of their harmful effects on lifespan. The addition of piezoelectric materials with appropriate connections can really be useful to reduce this drawback. To study such a damping effect, numerical modeling is necessary and leads to a coupled problem (between mechanics and electricity). This paper presents a 2-D model of a plate with piezoelectric patches. From the coupled behavior laws and with the use of a variational formulation, a finite element model is developed. After a validation process, the influence of the width of piezoelectric patches on damping is studied.