An electroactive polymer based concept for vibration reduction via adaptive supports

A concept for the suppression of resonant vibration of an elastic system undergoing forced vibration coupled to electroactive polymer (EAP) actuators based on dielectric elastomers is demonstrated. The actuators are utilized to vary the stiffness of the end support of a clamped beam, which is forced to harmonic vibration via a piezoelectric patch. Due to the nonlinear dependency of the elastic modulus of the EAP material, the modulus can be changed by inducing an electrostrictive deformation. The resulting change in stiffness of the EAP actuator leads to a shift of the resonance frequencies of the vibrating beam, enabling an effective reduction of the vibration amplitude by an external electric signal. Using a custom-built setup employing an aluminum vibrating beam coupled on both sides to electrodized strips of VHB tape, a significant reduction of the resonance amplitude was achieved. The effectiveness of this concept compared to other active and passive concepts of vibration reduction is discussed.