This paper formulated a now optimal design methodology for the placement of piezoelectric actuator and the feedback gains in vibration suppression of flexible structure. For the simultaneously optimal design of the location and sizing of collocated piezoelectric actuator/sensor pairs and the feedback gains, the effect of changes in the mass and the stiffness of the structure by addition of actuator/sensor pairs are considered and combined with control performance index to obtain a composite objective function, and the procedure developed in this paper leads to solutions that are independent of initial conditions of the flexible structure. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.