<p style="text-align: justify">&nbsp; Structure-borne traveling waves (SBTWs) have been investigated as means of propulsion in fluids and solid-state motion using one- and two-dimensional approaches with thin beams and plates. One way to generate SBTWs is by using two-mode excitation. With this method, the structure is mechanically coupled with two actuators that are excited at a common frequency but with a phase difference between them. Two-mode excitation takes advantage of the modal properties of the plate to generate steady-state traveling waves across the structure. It has been shown that with two-mode excitation the quality of SBTW can be improved through choice positions of actuators and tailoring the phase offset between actuators. Experimental studies have shown that SBTWs can be excited at various frequencies simultaneously in a structure by the superposition of the excitation signals. This suggests that the quality of SBTWs can be improved through superposition.</p><p style="text-align: justify">&nbsp; This paper examines superposition as a tool to improve the quality of SBTWs in targeted areas of a two-dimensional aluminum plate. Such waves are better suited for particle motion applications, where high quality SBTW are only required to exist on a specific area of the plate at a given time. The superposition of SBTWs is investigated through the use of a Finite Element model which represents a thin plate with coupled-piezoelectric wafers and fixed boundary conditions. The quality of these SBTWs excited with two or more frequencies are then compared with the quality of SBTWs generated with the use of only one frequency using complex orthogonal decomposition. Tailoring SBTWs to be more prevalent in specific areas of a plate allows for high-quality waves in prescribed locations of the plate to be excited, without the need for a large number of actuators.</p>

Tailoring Structure-Borne Traveling Waves in Targeted Areas of a Two-Dimensional Plate for Particle Motion Applications

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/SMASIS/SMASIS2021/volume/85499

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