Optimization of energy dissipation of active constrained layer damping treatments of plates

The energy dissipation characteristics of Active Constrained Layer Damping (ACLD) treatments of plates is optimized using rational design procedures. Such treatments of plates is optimized using rational design procedures. Such treatments consist of viscoelastic cores constrained by active piezo-electric layers. The optimal size and control gains of these ACLD treatments are determined using a globally stable boundary control strategy to control the strains of the active peizo-electric layers in response to the structural vibrations. The optimal parameters are obtained to maximize the sum of the passive and active loss coefficients of the ACLD treatments. The effect of the viscoelastic loss factor as well as the aspect ratio and piezo-electrical anisotropy of the constraining layer on the performance and the optimal parameters of the ACLD treatments is determined. Comparisons with optimal Passive Constrained Layer Damping (PCLD) indicate that the optimal ACLD is more effective in dissipating vibrational energy. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.