Design and Experimental Verification of a Semi-Active Pitch Link for Helicopter Vibration Attenuation

• Grant number: 13/15264-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2013
• End date: September 27, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Aerospace Engineering - Aerospace Structures
• Principal Investigator: Carlos de Marqui Junior
• Grantee: Marcel Araujo Clementino
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 15/04804-2 - Design and experimental verification of a semi-active pitch link for helicopter vibration attenuation, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials have been used for vibration control in different engineering problems. In general, the piezoelectric vibration controllers are classified as active or passive systems. In the first case, the reverse piezoelectric effect is used and an external power source is required. In the second case, mechanical energy is converted to electrical energy based on the direct piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric material is connected to simple electrical circuits (that uses passive elements) in order to dissipate energy. More recently, switching circuits have been used for the nonlinear treatment of the electrical output of piezoelectric materials resulting in semi-passive and semi-active controllers. Different switching circuits have been presented in the literature of piezoelectric vibration control. In some cases, the behavior of the switching controller is similar to mechanical systems used in helicopters for vibration control. One of these mechanical systems is the active pitch link presented by a Canadian research group. This system uses the combination of springs in order to control the stiffness of the pitch link. Although a remarkable control performance has been achieved with the active pitch link, some drawbacks (i.e. external voltage is required and mechanical failures) are point out by the authors. The main goal of the present project is the design and experimental verification of a self-powered piezoelectric semi-active pitch link using autonomous switching circuits. This solid-state configuration would address the issues presented by the mechanical active pitch link as well as present a good performance in vibration attenuation.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SILVA, TARCISIO M. P.; CLEMENTINO, MARCEL A.; DE MARQUI, JR., CARLOS; ERTURK, ALPER. An experimentally validated piezoelectric nonlinear energy sink for wideband vibration attenuation. Journal of Sound and Vibration, v. 437, p. 68-78, DEC 22 2018. (13/15264-3)

SILVA, TARCISIO M. P.; CLEMENTINO, MARCEL A.; DE MARQUI JUNIOR, CARLOS; ERTURK, ALPER; ERTURK, A; HAN, JH. Effects of a piezoelectric based nonlinear energy sink on the behavior of an electromechanically coupled beam. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE SMART STRUCTURES AND INTEGRATED SYSTEMS XII, v. 10595, p. 9-pg., 2018-01-01. (13/15264-3)

SILVA, TARCISIO MARINELLI PEREIRA; CLEMENTINO, MARCEL ARAUJO; DE SOUSA, VAGNER CANDIDO; JUNIOR, CARLOS DE MARQUI. An Experimental Study of a Piezoelectric Metastructure With Adaptive Resonant Shunt Circuits. IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS, v. 25, n. 2, p. 1076-1083, APR 2020. (17/08467-6, 13/15264-3, 18/15894-0, 15/26045-6)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CLEMENTINO, Marcel Araujo. Design and experimental verification of a smart piezoelectric pitch link for vibration attenuation. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC/SBD) São Carlos.