Semi-active control of piezoelectric coating's underwater sound absorption by combining design of the shunt impedances

Piezoelectric shunt damping technology has been applied in the field of underwater sound absorption in recent years. In order to achieve broadband echo reduction, semi-active control of sound absorption of multi-layered piezoelectric coating by shunt damping is significant. In this paper, a practical method is proposed to control the underwater sound absorption coefficients of piezoelectric coating layers by combining design of the shunt impedance that allows certain sound absorption coefficients at setting frequencies. A one-dimensional electro-acoustic model of the piezoelectric coating and the backing is established based on the Mason equivalent circuit theory. First, the shunt impedance of the coating is derived under the constraint of sound absorption coefficient at one frequency. Then, taking the 1-3 piezoelectric composite coating as an example, the sound absorption properties of the coating shunted to the designed shunt impedance are investigated. Next, on the basis of that, an iterative method for two constrained frequencies and an optimizing algorithm for multiple constrained frequencies are provided for combining design of the shunt impedances. At last, an experimental sample with four piezoelectric material layers is manufactured, of which the sound absorption coefficients are measured in an impedance tube. The experimental results show good agreement with the finite element simulation results. It is proved that a serial R-L circuit can control the peak frequency, maximum and bandwidth of the sound absorption coefficient and the combining R-L circuits shunted to multiple layers can control the sound absorption coefficients at multiple frequencies. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.