A V-Stack Piezoelectric System for Satellites Solar Panels Vibration Damping

In this work a piezoelectric device is proposed for vibration damping on satellites solar panels. The structural arrangement proposed for the piezoelectric actuation system rely on a V configuration of piezoelectric stacks that are hinged to the main yoke structure. The numerical model of the satellite structure is defined in a Euler-Bernoulli beam finite element framework taking into account the electro-mechanical coupling with active elements by introducing their equivalent nodal piezoelectric loads. Different shunt circuits have been designed to suppress the vibrations of the solar panel carrying out a parametric study on the circuit main components parameters to find the best combination. Numerical simulations have been carried out in order to compare the performance of the designed vibration suppression systems proving the effectiveness of the proposed smart structure configuration.