Frequency-Adjustable Piezoelectric tuned mass dampers for Autonomous and Reliable Vibration Attenuation – FAPARVA

Tuned mass dampers (TMD) are systems used in several applications with the aim to reduce the response amplitude to unpredictable vibrations. As the resonant frequency of TMDs must be precisely dimensioned, one of their major issues is their sensitivity to resonant frequency shifts. A promising solution is to use an electrical circuit to control TMD behavior via a piezoelectric device. The latter offer a coupling between mechanical and electrical energies, known as electromechanical coupling k². It allows energy to be dissipated in electrical circuits, and adds flexibility to the modification of mechanical behavior. Electrical interfaces, known as semi-passive interfaces as they only require energy to control the transistors drive, are interesting for frequency tuning without needing supplementary power supply than the converted energy by the TMD.
The project aims to the design of piezoelectric TMD with strong coupling coefficient k² to offer increasing capability of vibration attenuation and frequency tuning. As the design of piezoelectric resonators remains complex and is still the subject of ongoing scientific works, the project will also focus on the mechanical design of piezoelectric devices. Flextensional devices will be considered as they offer a better reliability and power density than cantilevers.
A comprehensive study on frequency tuning of piezoelectric TMD through self-powered electrical interfaces is proposed in this project with the consideration of the electromechanical modeling, mechanical design and electrical design. Electromechanical models will be exploited to evaluate the frequency range of tunability as a function of the coupling k² and the other non-dimensional parameters (stiffness ratio, frequency ratio, etc.). Design methods will be developed for the design of strongly coupled flextensional devices with low resonant frequencies (around 100 Hz) and experimental validation will be proposed with semi-passive interfaces.