Electronically Shunted Smart Material Damper Packages for Extreme Environments

ACX proposes an alternate approach to damping for extreme environments, which uses an electrically shunted, surface mounted, smart material. This shunting approach has been most widely used in less extreme environments in conjunction with piezoceramic materials. The smart material is bonded to the surface of the target structure, in this case a part inside an aircraft engine. Stress on the part is transferred to the piezoelectric. This in turn produces an electrical potential at the electrodes. By discharging the voltage through an electrical network, damping can be accomplished. For the resistive-inductive (RL) network, the result is the electrical equivalent of a tuned mass damper.The frequency selectivity of an electrically shunted smart material can be tailored to the specific application needs through the selection of the electronic shunt components. Robust, broad band or dramatic narrow band reduction be achieved. The advantages of such a proposed shunted smart material damping system include the flexibility to place it in a range of rotating and non-rotating environments, its ability to withstand large stresses with limited creep, the robustness of ceramic materials at high temperature, and its frequency selectivity.Phase I will design, fabricate and test an electronically shunted smart material damper package for extreme environments based on ACX's QuickPack technology, which encapsulates the piezoceramics in a protective skin.