Affiliations: [a] Dott. in Meccanica Teorica ed Applicata, Universitá
di Roma "La Sapienza", 00184 Roma, Italia. E-mail: salessan@vt.edu. Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics,
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0219,
USA | [b] Dip. Ing. Strutturale e Geotecnica, Universitá di
Roma "La Sapienza", 00184 Roma, Italy. E-mail:
francesco.dellisola@uniromal.it
| [c] Dip Ing. Elettronica, Universitá di Roma "La
Sapienza", 00184 Roma, Italy. E-mail: frezza@die.ing.uniromal.it
Abstract: A new way of coupling electrical and mechanical waves, using
piezoelectric effect, is presented here. Since the energy exchange between two
systems supporting wave propagation is maximum when their evolution is governed
by similar equations, hence, an optimal electro-mechanical coupling is obtained
by designing an electric network which is "analog" to the mechanical
structure to be controlled. In this paper, we exploit this idea to enhance the
coupling, between a Kirchhoff-Love plate and one possible synthesis of its
circuital analog, as obtained by means of a set of piezoelectric actuators
uniformly distributed upon the plate. It is shown how this approach allows for
an optimal energy exchange between the mechanic and the electric forms
independent of the modal evolution of the structure. Moreover, we show how an
efficient electric dissipation of the mechanical energy can be obtained adding
dissipative elements in the electric network.
