An Experimentally Verified Model of a Membrane Mirror Strip Actuated Using a Piezoelectric Bimorph

Abstract

The behavior of a membrane mirror strip actuated using a piezoelectric bimorph is treated. An improved model for the transverse vibration is presented. The model accounts for the changes in physical properties of the membrane strip at the location of the piezoelectric bimorph. The membrane strip is modeled as a pinned-pinned beam under tension and the finite element method (FEM) is used to represent the system mathematically. The beam under tension assumption allows accounting for the traveling wave effect experienced by a membrane strip and the added flexural rigidity induced by the piezoelectric bimorph. Additionally, the structural and air damping effects are included in the model. An experimental setup is built to verify the proposed model. The frequency response obtained from the proposed model is shown to be in agreement with conducted experiments. Furthermore, the importance of including local mass and stiffness effects is demonstrated.