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Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

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Active control of nonlinear vibration of sandwich piezoelectric beams:

A simplied approach
S. Belouettar
a
b

a,*

, L. Azrar b, E.M. Daya c, V. Laptev a, M. Potier-Ferry

CRP Henri Tudor, LTI, Laboratoire de Technologies Industrielles, 70, Rue de Luxembourg, L-4221 Esch-sur-alzette, Luxembourg
Equipe de Modelisation Mathematique et Controle, Departement de Mathematiques, Faculte des Sciences et Techniques de Tanger,
BP 46, Universite Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tanger, Morocco
c
LPMM, UMR CNRS 7554, Universite Paul Verlaine, Ile du Saulcy, F-57045 Metz, France
Available online 29 March 2007

Abstract
Nonlinear vibrations of piezoelectric/elastic/piezoelectric sandwich beams submitted to active control are studied in this paper. The
proportional and derivative potential feedback controls via sensor and actuator layers are used. Harmonic balance method and the
Galerkin procedure are adopted. A complex amplitude equation governed by two complex parameters is derived accounting for the geometric nonlinearity and piezoelectric eects. The nonlinear frequency and loss-factor amplitude relationships with respect to the gain
parameters are obtained. The feedback eects are analyzed for small and large vibration amplitudes of sandwich beams. The frequency
response curves are presented and discussed for various gain parameters.
 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Piezoelectric; Sandwich; Nonlinear; Sensor; Actuator; Active control; Vibrations; Loss-factor

1. Introduction
The lightweight and exible structures are extensively
used in aerospace engineering, civil and mechanical engineering. Because of the exibility, the vibrations once
introduced in the structure can grow up to large amplitudes. The eects of geometrically nonlinear deformation
become prominent in the research of mechanical behavior
of structures and it is also hopeful to suppress those undesired vibrations. This led to extensive research in active and
passive vibration controls, more at small than at large
amplitudes. One approach to control or to suppress the
undesired vibrations is to employ a control system with piezoelectric sensors and actuators. The early application of
piezoelectric materials to control vibration was developed
by Olson [1]. At present, this control meaner has been largely applied in other engineering elds such as robots,
rotor systems, antennas, high precision systems, medical
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +352 545580 530; fax: +352 545580 501.
E-mail address: salim.belouettar@tudor.lu (S. Belouettar).

0045-7949/$ - see front matter  2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruc.2007.02.009

applications, to name only a few. Piezomaterials can be

very well integrated into lightweight structures and eciently transform mechanical energy into electrical energy
and vice versa. Owing to their good characteristics of lightweight and electromechanical coupling eects, piezoelectric
sensors and actuators are often embedded in or attached on
the controlled structures. These structures are members of
a subset of controlled structures known as active or adaptive structures.
In recent years, modeling and control have been performed on a variety of active structures including beams
and plates using analytical and numerical methods. Several
investigations have been devoted to get accurate modeling
and analysis for vibration control and vibration suppression of sandwich structures with piezoelectric materials.
The vastness of the literature is obvious considering the
interdisciplinary nature of the subject [28]. Detailed survey can be found in the paper of Benjeddou et al. [9,10].
All these researchers, however, used linear models to investigate the mechanical behaviors of piezocomposite or
piezolaminated structures. Thus, the possible nonlinear

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

behaviors of these structures, when subjected to higher

loads, are then missed. In fact, there are many nonlinear
behaviors that can appear in piezolaminated structures.
In this paper, we are only interested in the geometrically
nonlinear eects. Some researchers had aorded their best
to model and investigate the dynamic behaviors of beams
and plates with piezoelectric laminates. Moita et al. [11]
used the updated Lagrangian formulation associated to
NewtonRaphson technique. Gao and Shen [12] proposed
an approach based on total Lagrange technique and virtual
velocity incremental principles. In these previous studies,
nite element formulations have been proposed for the
nonlinear transient vibration of composite structures with
piezoelectric materials.
It is well known that at large free and forced vibrations,
the nonlinear frequency is highly amplitude dependent.
Many researchers have analyzed the backbone and frequency amplitude dependences for beams, plates and
shells. Based on harmonic balance method, free and forced
nonlinear vibrations of beams and plates have been investigated by Azrar et al. [1315] using analytical and nite
element methods. When a viscoelastic material damps the
structure, the loss-factor is also amplitude dependent.
Sandwich beams and plates with a viscoelastic core have
been investigated by Daya et al. [16,17]. Simplied amplitude frequency and amplitude loss-factor relationships
are formulated for beams and plates. These papers presented a mathematical modeling to passively damp beams
and plates and to easily analyze their behaviors at large
amplitudes. Based on a linear approximation of the electric
potential through the thickness, a modal approach estimating the damping properties of sandwich beams has been
presented by Duigou et al. [18,19].
The aim of this work is to develop a simplied and consistent theory to actively control sandwich beams at small
and large amplitudes. A simplied methodology is developed for nonlinear vibration analysis of a piezoelectric
elasticpiezoelectric sandwich beams. The piezoelectric layers playing roles of sensor and actuator respectively are
connected via direct proportional feedback control and
velocity feedback control law. Harmonic balance method
with one mode Galerkins procedure is used. The frequency
response functions with respect to the gain and amplitude
parameters are obtained. A relationship between nonlinear
amplitude, loss-factor and gain parameters is also formulated. The nonlinear vibration behaviors of piezoelectric
sandwich beams can be investigated and optimal gain
parameters may be obtained.
2. Mathematical modeling
The basis of our consideration here is to derive a simple
and consistent model combining the geometrical nonlinear
eects and the feedback control of a piezoelectric/elastic/
piezoelectric sandwich beam. The nonlinear eect produced by the large transverse vibration amplitude is
modeled by a nonlinear straindisplacement relationship

387

of von karman type. The proportional and derivative

potential feedback controls via sensor and actuator layers
are used. The resulting nonlinear dynamic equation is analyzed by harmonic balance method. A complex amplitude
equation governed by two complex constants is derived.
Due to its analytical nature, this kind of amplitude equation is of particular value. The nonlinear frequencyamplitude relationships are obtained allowing the investigation
of the nonlinear response of beams with various boundary
conditions. The feedback eects on the nonlinear frequency
and loss-factor can be analyzed at small and large vibration
amplitudes.
2.1. Kinematics of the model
Let us consider a slender sandwich beam with rectangular cross section consisting of an elastic layer sandwiched
between two piezoelectric layers as presented in Fig. 1.
The upper and the lower layers play roles of sensor and
actuator respectively and are connected via some feedback
control laws. As a symmetric sandwich is of practical relevance a symmetric beam with respect to z = 0 is considered. The thickness of the piezoelectric layers is hS hA
and the thickness of the elastic core layer is hc. The length
of the beam is L while the width in the y direction is H. The
kinematics properties of the considered slender sandwich
piezoelectricelasticpiezoelectric beam are described by
the classical laminate theory based on the Bernoulli
hypothesis
8
>
< ux; z; t ux; t  zw;x x; t
1
vx; z; t  0
>
:
wx; z; t wx; t
According to the framework of small strain and nite
deection, the geometrical nonlinearity eect is introduced
by assuming moderate rotations [14,15,17]. The nonlinear
straindisplacement relationship is
e e0  zw;xx ;

1
e0 u;x w2;x
2

It is well known that in piezoelectric materials the electric eld and the deformation inuence each other. Such
a property allows using the piezoelectric materials as
sensors and actuators for the vibration control. More
precisely, the latter relationship can be described by the
following constitutive relations, which characterize the
coupling eects between mechanical and electrical properties as follows:

r ce  et E
3
D ee E
where r; e; D and E are the stress tensor, strain tensor,
electric displacement vector and electric eld vector respectively. c, e and  are respectively the elasticity matrix,
the piezoelectric matrix and the dielectric permittivity tensor. Orthotropic piezoelectric materials and an extension

388

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

z

Ss = h s H

Sc = h c H

SA = h A H

hs = h A

z A = z S

Piezoelectric

zS

hc
0

Elastic layer

zA

hS

=0

hA

Piezoelectric

Fig. 1. Piezoelectricelasticpiezoelectric sandwich beam.

mechanism are considered. Assuming that the stress tensor

is uniaxial and the directions of the elds D and E are parallel to oz, the reduced constitutive relations can be expressed as [8]
8   
 
c11 e31
r1
e
>
>
<


e31 33
E3
D3
4
>
2
>
e
:  33 33 ; e e31  c13 e33 ; c c11  c213
33

31

c33

11

c33

c33

2.2. Feedback control law

Consider a piezoelectric layer (sensor or actuator)
placed between z , z z < z , with the center
zC z z =2 and the thickness h. The piezoelectric sensor and actuator layers and the elastic beam are assumed to
be perfectly bounded. Therefore, the validity of our results
depends on this assumption. The electrostatic equilibrium
3
equation, free of volume charge density oD
0, together
oz
with the boundary condition (D3 z 0 or D3 z 0
imply that D3 z  0. Hence, the electric eld in the sensor,
depending on the displacement, is given by
E3 z 

e31
e
1
e  31 u;x w2;x  zw;xx

2
33
33

In order to deal with a potential E3  ou

, the dierence of
oz
the potentials on this piezoelectric layer can be written as
Z z
Du uz  uz 
E3 zdz
z

e  hi
1
31 u;x w2;x  zi w;xx ;
2
33

i S; A

To deal with an actuator, the quantity we are likely to control is then the dierence of the potentials. Therefore, based
on (5) E3(z) can be obtained from Du
E3 z 

Du

hi

e31
33

z  zi w;xx ;

i S; A:

The core of the sandwich beam is assumed to be conductive

with a uniform potential xed to zero. The potentials on
the upper and lower faces of the beam are respectively
denoted uS x and uA x. Hence, the sensors potential is
given by
uS DuS

e31 hS
1
u;x w2;x  zS w;xx
2
33

The proportional and derivative feedback controls will be

used. More precisely, the actuators potential uA x is
assumed to depend on the sensors potential uS x by the
following control law:
uA Gp uS Gd u_ S
9
This leads to the direct and proportional feedback control
in the particular case when Gd = 0 and to the direct and
proportional velocity feedback control when Gp = 0. It is
the scope of the present paper to analyze the eects of these
feedback parameters on the dynamical behaviors of the
sandwich beam.
Using Eqs. (7)(9), the electric elds in the sensor and
the actuator are, respectively, given by [18,19]
u
e
ES3 z  S 31 z  zS w;xx ;
hS 33
uA e31
A

z  zA w;xx
10
E3 z
hA 33
in which uA and uS are z independent and zS hC
hS =2 and zA hC hA =2. Let us note that the direct
and inverse piezoelectric coecients have been taken into
account in these formulations and both of them intervene
in the dynamic behavior of the sandwich beam.
2.3. Dynamic equation
Using the Hamiltons principle and Eqs. (4) and (10),
the equation of motion of the sandwich beam submitted
to axial and lateral excitations FX and FZ is given by:
Z
Z
Z
Z
r1 de
r1 de
r1 de
r1 de
V
VS
VC
VA
Z L

N de0 Mdw;xx dx
Z L
Z0 L
dw dx

F X du F Z dwdx  qS
udu w
0

11
where qS qS S S qC S C qA S A ; de0 du;x w;x dw;x .
Integrating throughout the thickness and the width and
assuming that the laminated layers are symmetric
(hA = hS), the axial force N and the bending moment M
are given by
8
N ES e0  BN w;xx
>
>
>
<
ESpe Gd u_ ;x w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS 12a
12
>
M

B
M e0 EI w;xx
>
>
:
ESpe zS Gd u_ ;x w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS 12b

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

where
2

ES EC S C 2c11 S S ESpe 1  Gp ; ESpe S S

BN ESpe 1  Gp zS ; BM ESpe 1 Gp zS ;
EI EC I C 2c11 I S S S z2S

ES 2
w;x BN w;xx
2
ESpe Gd w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS

ES u;x  ESpe Gd u_ ;x N t 

e31
;
33
12c
12d

ESpe
2I S 1 Gp z2S S S
SS
12e

The parameters (ES)* and (EI)* are the resulting extensional and bending stiness of the piezo-sandwich beam.
The rigidity terms BM and BN display coupling between
transverse bending and axial stretching. These coupling effects are introduced by the piezoelectric laminates and by
the proportional feedback. Decoupling behavior appears
when (e31 = 0). Let us note that Eqs. (12a,b) are those of
a purely mechanical beam model of viscoelastic type. Nevertheless, this model is not classical because of non-conservative character of the control law. First, when Gd = 0 and
Gp 6 0, the constitutive relation between (e0, w;xx and
(N, M) is not symmetric. Next, the damping due to the
velocity feedback parameter Gd is not of the same nature
in traction and in bending: The latter property becomes
obvious by considering an uncoupled and linearized version of the equivalent mechanical model
(
N ES u;x  ESpe Gd u_ ;x 13a
13
M EI w;xx ES pe z2S Gd w_ ;xx 13b
For instance if Gd > 0, the control damps the bending
modes while it destabilizes the traction modes. This spillover phenomenon is common within control structures.
This means that it is not possible to damp all the modes
with the described device. In this paper, only the control
of bending modes is studied and the destabilizing eects
in traction will be disregarded.
Applying the variational principle (11) to the displacements u and w, the following governing partial dierential
equations are derived:
(
N ;x qS
u F X 14a
14
F z 14b
M ;xx  Nw;x ;x qS w
The numerical solution of the latter equations allows one
to investigate the dynamic behaviors of piezoelectricelasticpiezoelectric beams under active control, lateral and
axial excitations. To deal only with lateral vibration characteristics of the piezo-sandwich beam, the axial force
and the axial displacement inertia may be neglected. The
system (14) is then reduced to

N ;x 0 15a
15
F Z 15b
M ;xx  Nw;xx qS w
Eq. (15a) leads to a constant axial force N x; t N t
and the associated axial displacement partial dierential
equation is given by

389

16

Without loss of generality the condition u0; t 0 is assumed. Integrating (16) from 0 to x, the time dierential
equation associated to u(x, t) is then given by
oux; t
 ES ux; t
ot
Z x
1
xN t ES
w;s s; t2 ds  BN w;x x; t
2
0
Z x
ow;s s; t
ds
 w;x 0; t  ESpe Gd
w;s s; t
ot
0


ow;x x; t ow;x 0; t

ESpe zs Gd
ot
ot

ESpe Gd

17

This equation is a simple linear dierential equation on u

and when its right hand side is known, it becomes easily
solved. The axial stretching force N(t) can be deduced with
respect to u and w by simply replacing x by L in (17).
When the axial displacement eects are neglected, the
axial force and bending moment can be expressed according to the transverse displacement only as
8
N 12 ES w2;x  BN w;xx
>
>
>
>
<
ESpe Gd w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS 18a
18
>
M  12 BM w2;x EI w;xx
>
>
>
:
ESpe Gd zS w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS 18b
Let us note that these formulations show additional terms
for the axial force and bending moment. N and M become
not only nonlinear with respect to the transverse displacement w but also contain viscous terms. According to
(15a) and integrating (18a) between the limits 0 and L,
the nonlinear axial stretching force is given by
Z L
Z
1
BN L
2
N t
ES
w;x dx 
w;xx dx
2L
L 0
0
Z L
ESpe
Gd
w;x w_ ;x  w_ ;xx zS dx
19

L
0
Remember that when the piezoelectric eects are neglected
(e31 0, the classical axial force corresponding to immovable ends is obtained [13,14].
Based on the last simplifying assumption, the equation
of motion is reduced to a nonlinear partial dierential
equation on the transverse displacement only. The resulting nonlinear equation of motion is then given by
EI w;xxxx  N tw;xx  BM w2;xx w;x w;xxx
qS w
 ESpe Gd zs w_ ;x w;xxx 2w_ ;xx w;xx w;x w_ ;xxx  zs w_ ;xxxx Fz
20
This nonlinear partial dierential equation governs the
transverse dynamic behavior of the piezoelectric sandwich
beams subjected to transverse excitation and piezoelectric
potential feedback when the axial displacement eects are
neglected. The nonlinear free and forced vibration and

390

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

active vibration control of piezoelectric sandwich beams

can be analyzed by numerically solving (15) or Eq. (20).
More generally, the axial eects can be investigated by
solving analytically or numerically Eq. (14).
3. Harmonic approximate solution
For the purpose of establishing simplied and useful
relationships for active control vibration of sandwich piezoelectric beams, the structure is assumed to be excited
transversally by a harmonic force F Z x; t f x cosxt.
f(x) may be concentrated, distributed or modal force. In
order to obtain the simplest approximate formulation for
active control of nonlinear vibrations, the dependence in
time and in space is specied in a very restrictive way.
The harmonic balance method and one mode Galerkin
approximation in space are adopted. The deection is
assumed to be harmonic and proportional to a linear vibration mode wn(x):
 ixt wn x;
wx; t fAwn xeixt CCg Aeixt Ae

21

where A is a complex unknown amplitude, x is the nonlinear frequency and CC indicates complex conjugate. wn(x) is
assumed to be a real linear vibration mode of the sandwich
beam obtained by solving the linear eigenvalue problem
resulting from (20) by neglecting the viscous and nonlinear
terms, the excitation and the feedback terms. This mode
can be analytically determined for classical boundary conditions or numerically by FE, for example, for more complex shapes and boundary conditions.

Functions F1(x) and F2(x) are computed using the assumed

vibration mode related the to the considered boundary
conditions. Based on the assumption (21), the general solution of (20) is given by
!

ES t
x
2
ux; t Cx exp
 jAj F 2 x 1 
ESpe Gd
L
(

BN  ixESpe Gd zS
x
1
F 1 xeixt
A
L
ES  ixESpe Gd
)
1
ES ixESpe
2 2
2ixt
A
F 2 xe CC
24
ES  2ixESpe Gd
where C veries the boundary conditions: C0
CL 0. The rst term in (24) illustrates the destabilising
eect of the feedback parameters Gp and Gd. Because we
focus on modes with a predominant bending, we do not
discuss this phenomenon. In practice, the feedback can
be balanced by the structural damping.
In order to derive a simplied nonlinear amplitudefrequency equation expressions (21), (22) and (24) are inserted
into Eq. (15b) and the harmonic balance method is used. A
complex scalar amplitude equation, similar to the one
established in [16] for damped viscoelastic sandwich beam,
is then obtained:
 2Q
x2 MA KxA K NL xAA
in which
M aqS
Kx bEI ixz2S ESpe Gd

3.1. Amplitude equation

BN  ixESpe Gd zS BM ixESpe Gd zS
ES  ixESpe Gd


3
K NL x n ES  ixESpe Gd
2
F
Q
2
c

Assuming that the ends are immovable and inserting the

harmonic decomposition (21) into (17), the harmonic
decomposition of the axial force is given by
2 F 2 L
N t ES jAj
L

F 1 L ixt
e
BN  ixESpe Gd zS A


 L
1
F 2 L 2ixt
ES  ixESpe Gd A2
e CC

2
L

22
Rx

Rx

in which F 1 x 0 wn;ss s ds; F 2 x 0 wn;s s ds. The

axial displacement governing equation is formulated as
oux; t
 ES ux; t
ot

x
ES jAj2 F 2 x 1 
L


ESpe Gd


x
BN ixESpe Gd zS A 1  F 1 xeixt
L



1
x
2
2ixt
ES  ixESpe Gd A 1  F 2 xe CC
2
L
23

25

where
Z L
Z L
2
a
wn x dx; b
wn;xxxx xwn x dx;
0
0
Z L
F
f xwn x dx
0
Z L
x
f1  F 1 xg;xxx wn x dx;
c
L
0
Z
F 2 L L
n
wn;xx xwn x dx
L
0

26a
26b
26c
26d

27

The constants a, b, c and n are simply determined using the

assumed natural vibration mode and the constants M, K
and KNL are obtained in a straightforward manner. wn x
may be any desired nth mode around which the analysis
is needed. These real modes may be determined either analytically or numerically for considered boundary conditions. Let us note that the excitation force FZ may be

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

concentrated, distributed uniform or modal harmonic force

by simply choosing accordingly f(x).
When the axial displacement eects are neglected, the
resulting amplitude equation is similar to (25) with the
same coecients except for the linear rigidity factor that
is reduced to
Kx bfEI ixz2S ESpe Gd g

3.2. Gain eects

The proportional and velocity gain eects can be analyzed by considering the free amplitude equation
x2

Kx K NL x 2

jAj
M
M

29

Splitting the coecients K(x) and KNL (x) into its real and
imaginary parts, denoted by K R x iK I x and
I
KR
NL x iK NL x, the complex nonlinear frequency x
can decomposed as
x2 X2NL 1 igNL

30

where the nonlinear real frequency XNL and loss-factor gNL

amplitude relationships are given by:
(
)
KR
a2
2
2
R
R
1
XNL XL0 1

K NL0  Gp K NL1
31a
MX2L0 MX2L0

I 
X2L0
K I1
2 K NL
1 I a
gNL gL0 2
31b
K0
K I0
XNL
in which a jAj, X2L0

KI

and gL0 K R0 .

KR
1 x; Gp ; Gd ,

The coecients
K I1 x; Gp ; Gd , K R
NL0 ,
I
and K NL are given in the Appendix A. In order to
demonstrate the feedback eects, the normalization with
respect to the sandwich beam without proportional eect
is done. The used linear frequency XL0 and linear loss factor gL0 correspond to Gp = 0 and c = 0.
KR
NL1

KR
0,

KR
0
M

When the axial eects are neglected, Eqs. (31) are

reduced to



3 2
2
2

2 R
2
32a
XNL XL0 1 a C Gp bzS  na
2
gNL gL0

28

Based on the used harmonic balance method, the axial

eect appears only in the rhs of (26b). In order to take into
account the axial eects and the quadratic nonlinearities
introduced by the piezoelectric feedback control, harmonic
balance method with more harmonics may be used.
The amplitude Eq. (25) allows obtaining the complex
vibration amplitude A as a response to the harmonic excitation force with the amplitude FZ and frequency x. By this
way, the control of free and forced nonlinear vibration analyses can be deduced from three modal constants M, K and
KNL which represent mass, linear and nonlinear stiness
respectively. The later constant accounts for the coupling
of piezoelectric and nonlinear geometrical eects. The presented formulation is quite general and allows one to analyze the proportional and derivative potential control of
piezo-sandwich beams at small and large amplitudes with
various boundary conditions. Only the transverse vibration
mode is needed and the vibration control in the vicinity of
the associated resonance can be easily achieved.

391

1  a2 C I
1 a2 C R Gp bz2S  32 na2

32b

in which
ES0 EC S C 2c11 S S ESpe ;
ESpe
2I S z2S S S
SS
3 n ES0
n
CR
CI 2 ;
2 b EI0
bzS

EI0 EC I C 2c11 I S S S z2S

X2L0

b EI0
;
a qSeq

Gp Gp

ESpe
MX2L0

gL0 Gd

33

xz2S ESpe
EI0

Eqs. (32) and more generally Eq. (31) allow one to investigate the inuence of the proportional and velocity feedback
parameters on the free nonlinear frequency and loss-factor.
As expected, the loss factor is proportional to velocity feedback parameter Gd and this later does not intervene in the
nonlinear real frequency XNL.
Based on Eq. (31a) or (31b), the proportional feedback
parameter Gp can decrease the nonlinear frequency and
then increase the nonlinear loss-factor values with respect
to the amplitude. This allows one to easily control the
increase or decrease of the damping in the structure at
small and large amplitudes. Using Eq. (32), critical values
of Gp can be reached at:
1 a2 C R K R
0

;
GCrit
p
3
2  bz2 ES
na
pe
S
2

GpCrit

1 K R
0
bz2S ESpe

34

where GpCrit L is a particular critical value of Gp corresponding to linear

q case. It can be also seen that at the amplitude
, the eects of the proportional feedback Gp on
a zS 2b
3n
the nonlinear frequency and the loss-factor disappear. This
new phenomenon is of particular interest because it introduces an eective change in the nonlinear behavior of the
sandwich beam. A softening or a hardening eect can be
obtained by simply choosing Gp.
4. Numerical results
Numerical results are obtained for simply supported
sandwich piezoelectricelastic-piezoelectric beams as presented in Fig. 1. The material and geometrical properties
of the host beam and of the piezoelectric layers are given
in Table 1. The amplitude Eqs. (25) and (26) and the analytical relationships formulated in (31) and (32) are used for
the control of the linear and nonlinear vibration behaviors
of sandwich beams. Only numerical computation of three
coecients is needed and a large number of benchmark
tests can be investigated. The proportional and derivative
feedback potential control is adopted and the active

392

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

Table 1
Geometrical and material properties of the elastic beam and of the
piezoelectric layer
Elastic beam

Piezoelectric layer

Length: L
Total thickness: h 0:01 m
Width H
Youngs modulus
Mass density

1m
hC 56 h
H 5h
EC 6:9  1010 Pa
qC 2766 mkg3

1m
1
hS hA 12
h
H 5h

kg
qS 7500 m
3

c11

6.98 1010 Pa

e31
33

23:2 mC2

1:73  108

F
m

control of linear and nonlinear vibration behaviors of the

beams can be easily achieved by the presented analytical
relationships. The inuence of the proportional and derivative feedback eects upon the linear and nonlinear frequencies and loss-factors at small and large amplitudes
are studied in detail for piezo sandwich beams.
The emphasis is rst on the case when the axial eects
are neglected (c = 0). The normalization with respect to
EI
the linear natural frequency X2L0 ba qS 0 , corresponding
eq
to the uncontrolled sandwich beam is used in order to demonstrate the feedback parameter inuences on the linear
and nonlinear frequency amplitude responses. The eect
of these parameters is rst analyzed at small amplitudes
(linear behavior). The derivative feedback parameter Gd
is proportional to the linear loss-factor and then governs
the damping eect actively introduced into the beam by
this kind of control. In order to show clearly the eect of
Gp, the internal frequency is considered to be the natural

frequency of the uncontrolled beam XL0 The proportional

parameter Gp intervenes in the linear frequency and also in
the linear loss-factor. Fig. 2 presents the deection at the
centre of a simply supported sandwich beam with respect
to the excitation frequency. These results are obtained for
Gp values varying from 0 to 100 and for an excitation
amplitude f = 200 and Gd = 0.05. The eect of the parameter Gp inuences the bandwidth but leaves the amplitude
peak unchanged. As the frequency is normalized to the natural frequency of the uncontrolled sandwich beam, the
inuence of Gp on the linear frequency of the controlled
beam is also shown in this gure. The eect of Gp on the
bandwidth is clearly demonstrated in Fig. 3. The frequency
is normalized to the natural frequency of the controlled
beam. Some positive and negative values of Gp are selected
in order to clearly demonstrate its eect. As the more the
frequency range, the more the damping, the Gp can be used
to actively increase the damping in the sandwich beam as
shown in Fig. 3. When the internal frequency is considered
to be the natural frequency of the controlled beam
EI
X2L ba qS  and the axial eect is taken into account, the
eq
inuence of Gp is no longer as clear as in Figs. 2 and 3.
In order t to consider the axial eect, Eq. (26c) is also used.
In this case, (c 6 0, the inuence of the control parameters
Gp and Gd can not be clearly identied. The linear response
of sandwich beam is presented in Fig. 4 for some values of
Gp with (c 6 0, and without (c 0, axial eect. The axial
eect is very small when Gp = 0 but can be strong related to
Gp and Gd as presented in this gure. Let us note that when
Gd = 0, these is no damping eect induced by Gp. But,
when a small Gd is introduced, Gp can be easily used to

Linear case: f =200; Gd=0.05; Gp=0, ..., 100

1.6

1.4

1.2

Gp=0
Gp=100

W(centre)/h

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.5

1.5

Fig. 2. Forced linear frequency amplitude response around xL0 ba

2.5
/L0
EI0
qSeq

3.5

4.5

for various values of Gp. f = 200; Gd = 0.05 and Gp = 0, 10100.

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

393

f=200; Gd=0.05; Gp=0, -2, -4, -6 ,-8, -10, 10, 100

1.6

-10
1.4

-8
1.2

-6

-4

w(centre)/h

-2

-10

0.8

0
0.6

-8
0.4

10

0.2

G p = 100

G p = 100

0.5

1.5

2.5

/L

Fig. 3. Forced linear normalized frequency amplitude response around xL ba

Gp 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 10, 100.

EI
qSeq

for some positive and negative values of Gp. f = 200; Gd = 0.05 and

f = 200; Gd = 0.05; Gp = 0, 5, -10, 10

5 .5
5
4 .5
# 0

Gp = - 10

W(centre)/h

3 .5
3
2 .5
=0

2
-5

1 .5
1

Gp = 0

0 .5
10

0 .5

Fig. 4. Forced linear frequency amplitude response around xL ba

( c 0).

1
EI
qSeq

increase or decrease the active damping in the sandwich

beam.
The linear and nonlinear response of the controlled
beam at the centre is presented in Fig. 5 for Gp 0 and
f = 0, 200 and 400. The damping Gd eect is clearly shown
in linear and nonlinear behaviors. The dierence between
linear and nonlinear behaviors is strong and the controlled
beam can be largely damped with a small parameter Gd.
The vibration suppression of the beam at large amplitudes

/ L

1 .5

2 .5

at various values of Gp with axial eect ( c 6 0) and without axial eect.

can then be easily achieved by small derivative feedback

parameters Gd and the response is governed by a simple
amplitude Eq. (25). The nonlinear response is presented
in Fig. 6 for f = 700, Gp = 0 and Gd varying from 0.1 to
0.5. The nonlinear backbone and forced vibration curves
of the uncontrolled beam are added for comparison. The
increase of Gd tends to largely reduce the nonlinear eect
and then to remove the snap through phenomenon. With
the used harmonic balance method and disregarding the

394

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

2

Nonlinear
1.8

1.6

1.4

Linear

1.2

0.8

f=400
0.6

0.4

f=200

0.2

f=0
0

0.5

1.5

2.5

Fig. 5. Linear and nonlinear forced frequency amplitude response around xL for various amplitudes of the excitation forces. (Gp 0, Gd 0:1; f = 0,
200, 400. Axial eect neglected (c = 0).

f=700, Gp= 0; Gd=0, 0.05 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.5

2.5

Gd=0

Gd=0.05

W(centre)/h

Gd=0.1
1.5

Gd=0.2

Gd=0.4
0.5

Gd=0.5

f=0
0

0.5

1.5

/ L

2.5

3.5

Fig. 6. Nonlinear frequency amplitude responses around xL for various velocity feedback parameters. f 700, Gp 0 and Gd 0; 0:05; 0:1; 0:2; 0:4; 0:5.
Axial eect neglected (c 0).

axial eect, a loop eect is also observed in Fig. 6 for relatively large Gd.
The proportional feedback parameter has a strong eect
on the nonlinear beam response. This eect is modeled by
the nonlinear free frequencyamplitude relationship. The
nonlinear free frequency XNL with respect to the amplitude
at the centre of the controlled beam is presented in Fig. 7
when the axial eect is disregarded (c = 0). In this gure,
the nonlinear frequency is normalized to the natural frequency of uncontrolled beam. The backbone curve corre-

sponding to Gp Gd f 0 is also presented for

comparison. The Gp eect on the linear and nonlinear frequency is clearly shown in this gure. The nonlinear behavior changes from the hard to the soft with respect to Gp.
Invariant amplitude with respect to Gp is clearly shown
and allows one to catch this new phenomenon. By introducing a small Gd (Gd 0:1), the Gp eect on the nonlinear
controlled beam is demonstrated in Fig. 8. In this gure,
the nonlinear frequency is normalized to the controlled
natural beam frequency. The hardeningsoftening changes

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

395

1. 8
Gp=40

Gp=20

Gp=30

Gp=10

Gp= 0

Gp=50
1. 6
Gp= 60
1. 4

W(centre)/h

1. 2

Gp= 100

0. 8

0. 6

0. 4
Gp=0
0. 2

0
0.9

1.1 1.2

1.3

1. 4 1.5

1.6 1.7

1.8

1.9

2. 1 2.2

2.3

2. 4 2.5

2.6 2.7

2.8

2.9

3. 1 3.2

/L0

Fig. 7. Nonlinear free frequency

XNL
XL0

around xL0 with respect to the amplitude at various values of Gp. Gp 0100 and without axial eect (c 0).

f=400; G d= 0.1; Gp =0, 10 20 30 40 50

2
30

40

20

Gp=0

G p=10

1.8
1.6
50

1.4

W(centre)/h

1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0

0.5

/ L

1 .5

2 .5

Fig. 8. Free and forced nonlinear frequency amplitude responses around xL at various values of Gp. f 400, Gd 0:1 and Gp 0; 10; . . . ; 50. Axial eect
neglected (c = 0).

with respect to Gp are also obtained for damped structures.

The snap through can be reduced or even suppressed but
the amplitude peak cannot be really reduced with Gp and
particularly when the axial eect is disregarded.
It has to be noted that terms coming from the axial
contribution are inuencing the nonlinear frequency, lossfactor and then linear and nonlinear responses as demonstrated in Fig. 9. The responses at the centre of the beam

with respect to the normalized nonlinear frequency with

and without axial eect are presented in this gure for Gd
0.1 and 0.2. It appears that for a more realistic modeling,
the nonlinear eect can not be neglected and the nonlinear
behavior can be actively controlled by simply acting on Gp
and Gd. Following Eqs. (26), the contribution of the axial
eect appears in real and complex linear rigidities with coupling between Gp and Gd eects. Many numerical tests can

396

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

f =400; Gp=0; Gd=0.1 , 0.2
1.8

Nonlinear

Linear

=0

#0

#0

1.6

1.4

W(centre)/h

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

=0

0.2

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

/L

Fig. 9. Nonlinear frequency amplitude responses with and without axial eect. f 400, Gp 0 and Gd 0:1; 0.2 with axial eect (- c 6 0 and without
axial eect ( c 0).

be investigated based on (25) and (26) for various beam

boundary conditions and geometrical characteristics.
5. Conclusions
The active control of the linear and nonlinear vibrations
of sandwich piezoelectricelastic-piezoelectric beams has
been investigated based on a proportional and derivative
feedback potential control and on a complex nonlinear
amplitude equation. Similar to classical bifurcation equation, this equation involves three modal constants: the
mass, the linear and nonlinear stiness coecients. The
feedback and piezoelectric eects are taken into account
in the stiness coecients. These coecients can be easily
obtained for various boundary conditions of sandwich
beams. Analytical relationships of the nonlinear frequencyamplitude and nonlinear loss-factor-amplitude
are given. The inuence of the feedback parameters on
the linear and nonlinear vibrations of sandwich beams is
deeply analyzed. Linear and nonlinear dynamic behaviors
of sandwich beams with actuator and sensor piezoelectric
layers can be actively controlled by simply acting on two
control parameters.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by the European FP6
STREP project CASSEM with the Contract No. 013517.
Professor Azrar L. acknowledges the mobility support
from Luxembourgish National Research Fund (Grant
No. FNR/05/MA6/06).

Appendix A
ES0 EC S C 2c11 S S ESpe ;
EI0 EC I C 2c11 I S S S z2S

ESpe
2I S z2S S S
SS

The real and imaginary parts of the linear and nonlinear

stiness parameters are given by
KR
0 bEI0 ;

K I0 xbz2S ESpe Gd

KR
1 x; Gp ; Gd
ReKx  K R
0
bESpe z2S Gp

c
2
ES

x2 ESpe G2d

fBN BM ES

x2 ES ES2pe G2d z2S x2 ES2pe G2d zS BM  BN g

K I1 x; Gp ; Gd
ImKx  iK I0
cxESpe
fBN BM x2 ES2pe z2S G2d
Gd
ES2 x2 ES2pe G2d
ES zS BN  BM g
KR
NL

R
KR
NL0  Gp K NL1
3
3
KR
KR
NL0 nES0 ;
NL1 nESpe
2
2
I
K NL xnESpe Gd

CR

KR
NL0
;
MX2L0

CI

K INL
K I0

S. Belouettar et al. / Computers and Structures 86 (2008) 386397

Appendix B. Simply supported beam

The mode shape is wn x sinnpx

L
For the rst mode, one gets
1 p4
1 p4
1 p4
;
c

;
n

2 L3
4 L3
4 L3
For distributed harmonic uniform force F = 2L
f.
p

L
a ;
2

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