Abstract. In this paper a broadband active shunt technique for controlling vibration in piezoelectric laminated structures is proposed. The effect of the negative capacitance controller is studied theoretically and then validated experimentally on a piezoelectric laminated simply supported plate. The 'negative capacitance controller' is similar in nature to passive shunt damping techniques, as a single piezoelectric transducer is used to dampen multiple modes. While achieving comparable performance to that of the passive shunt schemes, the negative capacitance controller has a number of advantages. It is simpler to implement, less sensitive to environmental variations and can be considered as a broadband vibration absorber.

Print publication: Issue 1 (February 2003)
Received 22 May 2001, in final form 20 August 2002
Published 10 January 2003