Optimal configuration of a piezoelectric patch for vibration control of isotropic rectangular plates

This technical note presents the optimal position and orientation of a piezoelectric patch actuator for improving the controllability of isotropic plates against vibration. The main focus is on controlling the first five modes either individually or simultaneously. Four rectangular aluminum plates of different aspect ratios and of either simply-supported or cantilevered boundary condition are considered. A formula incorporating results from finite-element analyses is developed to predict the steady-state responses of plates driven by a single piezoelectric patch. Simulation results show that, in general, the controllability of plates is insensitive to patch orientation as far as the present investigation is concerned. For the simply-supported plates, the optimal patch positions coincide exactly with anti-nodes of the vibration modes being considered. This, however, is only true for specific modes of the cantilevered plates