Experimental validation of a novel smart electromechanical tuned mass damper beam device

This paper validates the novel concept of utilising piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting (PVEH) beams as a tuned mass damper (TMD)—which suppresses a particular vibration mode of a generic host structure over a broad band of excitation frequencies. The proposed device comprises a pair of bimorphs shunted by a resistor, capacitor and inductor connected in various alternative circuit configurations. A benchmark for the performance is established through Den Hartog's theory for the optimal damping of a classical TMD. Experimental results demonstrate that such optimal damping is equivalently generated by the PVEH effect for appropriately tuned circuitry. These results correlate reasonably well with the results of a theoretical analysis introduced in a previous paper. The proposed TMD beam device combines the relative advantages of the classical (‘mechanical’) TMD and the shunted piezoelectric patch (‘electrical’ vibration absorber), presenting the prospect of a functionally more readily-adaptable class of ‘electromechanical’ tuned vibration absorbers. Moreover, with further development, this dual PVEH/TMD beam device holds the potential of simultaneous energy storage.