MODULAR MODELING APPROACH FOR FDM PRINTED STRUCTURES AND PIEZO DISKS FOR METAMATERIAL DESIGN

Abstract

RESEARCH IN METAMATERIALS HAS BEEN GAINING INTEREST IN THE FIELDS OF NOISE AND VIBRATION CONTROL. THE ABILITY OF CREATING BAND GAP ZONES WITH MINIMUM ADDED MASS IS THE MAIN FEATURE BEHIND ITS SUCCESS. ASSOCIATING WITH SMART MATERIALS CAN PROVIDE THE MEANS TO OVERCOME TYPICAL ISSUES. THE USE OF 3D PRINTED PARTS, PARTICULARLY THE FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING (FDM), IS ALSO GAINING INTEREST IN ENGINEERING AREAS THAT DEMAND INTRICATE SHAPES OR DESIGNS THAT ARE CHALLENGING FOR STANDARD MANUFACTURING PROCEDURES. HOWEVER, THE MODELLING OF SUCH STRUCTURES ARE A QUITE COMPLEX TASK FOR IT INVOLVES MULTIPHYSICAL SIMULATIONS ON SYSTEMS THAT CAN BE COMPLEX IN GEOMETRY AND HIGH ON NUMBER OF DEGREES OF FREEDOM. ALSO, THE PROBLEM WITH THE COUPLING REMAIN, AS BOTH THE MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL RESPONSES RELIES ON THE LOAD CIRCUIT AND ON THE SHAPE OF THE PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENT. THIS PAPER PRESENTS A DIRECT APPROACH TO THE MODELLING PROBLEM USING A STATE-SPACE FORMULATION FOR MODULAR COUPLING OF ELECTROMECHANICAL RESONATORS MANUFACTURED BY THE FDM PROCESS. THE NUMERICAL RESULTS ARE COMPARED TO EXPERIMENTAL DATA OBTAINED WITH UNIT CELLS PROTOTYPES EMBEDDED WITH PIEZOELECTRIC ELEMENTS AND  CONNECTED WITH A TUNABLE SHUNT CIRCUIT. THE GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN TEST AND SIMULATED DATA VALIDATES THE DESIGN PROCEDURE.