Optimal passive shunted damping configurations for noise reduction in sandwich panels

This article addresses the issue of vibration and noise reduction in laminated sandwich plates using piezoelectric patches with passive shunted damping. A finite element implementation of a laminated sandwich plate with viscoelastic core and surface bonded piezoelectric patches is used to obtain the frequency response of the panels. The sound transmission characteristics of the panels are evaluated by computing their radiated sound power using the Rayleigh integral method. Resistor and inductor shunt damping circuits are used to add damping to the sandwich panels. The optimal location of the surface-bonded piezoelectric patches is then obtained, along with the resistor and inductor circuits resistance and inductance, using direct multisearch optimization to minimize added weight, number of patches, and noise radiation. Tradeoff Pareto optimal fronts and the respective optimal patch configurations are obtained.