Efficient excitation of transverse vibrational modes using improved configurations of PFCs connected to an isotropic plate

Abstract In this work, we investigate efficient excitations of transverse (out-of-plane) vibrations of isotropic rectangular plates using piezoelectric fiber composites (PFCs) by experimental measurement. Four PFCs are separately bonded on a rectangular plate with four configured electrode connections to excite transverse vibration of the plate. The proposed configurations of the PFCs, including placements and electrode connections, are inspired by efficient transverse excitations of piezoelectric rectangular plates, whose mode shapes can be divided into four groups and whose electromechanical coupling efficiency can be largely improved by designs of partial electrodes. To visually demonstrate the excitation efficiency, an amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) measurement technique is set up to obtain full-field transverse mode shapes. Other than AF-ESPI, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) displacement sensing system is employed to investigate the excitation performances of the PFCs according to resonant frequencies with emphasis on the influences of the measured nodal lines of the plate. The experimental results presented in this study indicate that the excitation efficiency of the transverse vibrations in flexible structures can be improved by bonding distributed PFCs with configured electrode connections. In addition, we show that the vibrations of isotropic rectangular plates can be related to those of piezoelectric rectangular plates, from the experimental modal excitation point of view.