Active vibration control of flexible thin-walled beam using multi-layer planar dielectric elastomer actuator

The paper investigates the active vibration control (AVC) of flexible thin-walled structure using dielectric elastomer (DE) actuator. It is proposed to bond directly DE film to the surface of flexible thin-walled structure so as to actively control structural vibration through in-plane actuation of DE film. This kind of actuator is referred to as planar DE actuator, which has advantages such as small additional mass and easy installation, and thereby can realize more easily active vibration control of flexible thin-walled structures in comparison with DE actuators with columnar configuration. In order to reduce control voltage, a multi-layer planar DE actuator (MPDEA) is further developed. Based on the Hamilton principle and the constitutive equation of DE material, the governing equation in the form of finite element for a cantilever polycarbonate beam with MPDEA is derived. Simulated and experimental studies are carried out on active vibration control of flexible thin-walled beam using MPDEA with different layers. The results show that MPDEA can achieve good vibration control effect for flexible thin-walled beam. Especially, the driving voltage can be greatly reduced by employing MPDEA. Moreover, a nonlinear compensation model is proposed to suppress the control spillover caused by nonlinear actuating properties of MPDEA. The simulated and experimental results of AVC of cantilever flexible thin-walled beam with the compensation model show that the overall control performance can be improved due to noticeable restrain of the control spillover.