Abstract
The investigation of passively damped piezoelectric structures within fluid flows is important for two reasons: (a) to increase the critical flutter speed and (b) conversely to generate electrical energy to power small scale electronic systems. In this article, a cantilever pipe with resistive piezoelectric damping is chosen as the model structure to demonstrate behavior over a range of fluid/structure mass ratios. The effects of piezoelectric coupling on the critical flutter velocity, capacitance, load resistance, and piezoelectric location are investigated. The modeling shows that depending on the piezoelectric parameters chosen and the attached electrical load resistance, the addition of a passive piezoelectric element can either increase or decrease stability of the system (i.e., the critical flutter speed of the cantilever pipe can be altered and hence controlled).
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