Vibration damping of a composite control arm through embedded piezoceramic patches shunted with a negative capacitance

Vibrations in modern cars constitute a real issue that can lead to undesirable noise and diminished durability. To reduce these effects, passive vibration attenuation measures have been extensively used, but can no longer cope with the increasing complexity of mechanical systems. In this sense, smart structures have been developed to efficiently suppress vibration without notable adverse effects. A well-known technique consists in coupling a piezoceramic transducer to a mechanical structure and then connecting it to a shunt circuit. In this work, a novel approach to deal with the application of shunted piezoceramics in lightweight structures for vibration attenuation is proposed. It is based on the simultaneous optimization of different sub-systems of the smart structure, i.e. host structure, transducers and electronics. Instead of being considered as an add-on solution, the shunted piezoceramics are regarded as additional design variables. Therefore, passive structural mass is substituted by active material in an intelligent way, which can potentially reduce overall weight. Moreover, in contrast to surface-bonded transducers, embedded piezoceramics inside the laminate are protected from the external environment and provide direct coupling to the structure. To show the potential of this approach in a real technical structure, the case study of a control arm is considered, since it is one of the main transfer paths for vibrations in the front suspension of a passenger vehicle.