Beam vibration control using electro-active paper sensor

In this paper, the possibility of EAPap as a piezoelectric sensor was investigated by the vibration control of the cantilevered beam. The EAPap sample was attached at the root of the cantilevered beam and used as a vibration sensor. The piezoceramic patch was also attached at the root of the beam and played as an actuator. The voltage output of EAPap showed same trend of that measured by the piezoceramic patch. The frequency bandwidth and quality factor of EAPap were similar to those of piezoceramic patch, which results EAPap has similar sensing capability of piezoceramic patch. To find the application of EAPap sensor, beam vibration control was performed. EAPap sensor output was considered as a position error of the cantilevered beam system and a simple PID controller was designed to suppress the vibration of the beam. The EAPap sensor output provided clear time response of the beam. The controlled system showed good vibration control performance of the beam. The results provided that EAPap has great potential as a piezoelectric vibration sensor.