If someone asks you: Can you reduce the vibration of the system without adding anything from outside? Isn’t it a tricky question?
While you are wondering for a while, the specification may be slightly relaxed, okay, you are allowed to add something externally with a condition that it should not affect original characteristics of the system. One feels little comfortable and the brain immediately starts thinking, is it possible?
Vibration control of flexible structures subjected to dynamic inputs is one such tricky situation.
Antenna Structures, Satellite Structures, Components of Space Stations, etc. are expected to perform precisely despite being subjected to thermal, vacuum and wind variations. Such unwanted vibrations (disturbance) may hamper the working of the said structures and need to be controlled.
Prof Sharadkumar Purohit and Prof Paresh V Patel, from the Department of Civil Engineering along with Dr B S Munjal, Scientist-G and his associates at SAC-ISRO collaborated on a research project; “Development of Passive Damping Surface Coating for Advanced Materials based Structural Systems using PZT (Piezo) Powder”.
An innovative piezoelectric powder (PZT) based surface coating was developed using Aluminium, E-board and PEEK (with plasma based treatment) to control the vibrations. As the coating does not add mass to the original system, it is a smart way to suppress unwanted vibrations in a lightweight structural system.