Nonlinear-forced vibrations of piezoelectrically actuated viscoelastic cantilevers

This paper aims to study the nonlinear-forced vibrations of a viscoelastic cantilever with a piecewise piezoelectric actuator layer on its top surface using the method of Multiple Scales. The governing equation of motion is a second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities which appear in stiffness, inertia, and damping terms. The nonlinear terms are due to the piezoelectricity, viscoelasticity, and geometry of the system. Forced vibrations of the system are investigated in the cases of primary resonance and non-resonance hard excitation including subharmonic and superharmonic resonances. Analytical expressions for frequency responses are derived, and the effects of different parameters including damping coefficient, thickness to width ratio of the beam, length and position of the piezoelectric layer, density of the beam, and the piezoelectric coefficient on the frequency-response curves are discussed for each case. It is shown that in all these cases, the response of the system follows a softening behavior due to the existence of the piezoelectric layer. The piezoelectric layer provides an effective tool for active control of vibration. In addition, the effect of the viscoelasticity of the beam on passive control of amplitude of vibration is illustrated.