How are piezoceramics used in vibration cancellation?
Two piezoceramic sheets can be bonded directly to the surface of a structure (such as a strut, or beam) close to one another at a site where unwanted bending occurs. One is used to sense surface strain. The output from the strain sensor is fed into a “smart box” (which can be anything from a simple op-amp to an elaborate Digital Signal Processing computer) which in turn controls a power amplifier that drives the other piezoceramic sheet. Ideally the resulting mechanical contractions of the second piezo sheet inject a vibration into the structure which is equal and opposite of the initially detected one so that the net vibration is canceled.
