An Actuator System for the Vibro-Acoustic Control of Structures

The vibro-acoustic control of flexible structures is one that is still a significant challenge in the engineering community. Proposed is an actuator system for suppressing the vibro-acoustic response of a structure over large bandwidths. Methods for determinating the placement of actuators on a structure shall be investigated for problems in vibration suppression and vibro-acoustics. In order to address the actuator placement problem, heuristic optimizatin techniques will be investigated. Such as approach can easily be integrated with finite element representation of structures. Local control schemes shall be investigated that generate stable control with no specific model information. The actuator will be a solid-state system with no moving parts, light weight and have a high efficiency. Piezoceramic flexure mechanisms are discussed as a means of driving the actuator device. These driving elements will allow an implementation of self-sensing technology to generate an actuator control system with a collocated sensor and actuator. An evaluation of the actuator location method and the local control scheme will be performed using a conceptualized model of the actuator and models of simple structures. A Phase II effort will develop a production quality prototype of the system design.