Damping analysis of beams submitted to passive and active control

In this paper an analytical method is proposed for damping analysis of sandwich beams with piezoelectric and viscoelastic layers. Based on the classical zig-zag model and some assumptions about the electric field, this method leads to an analytical expression of the modal loss factor and frequency. Considering two feedback control laws, the obtained hybrid damping of the sandwich beam is characterized. Numerical finite element applications are considered, in order to examine the efficiency and limitations of the presented method.