Active thermally induced vibration control of photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid device with discontinuously distributed piezoelectric patches

The increasing demand for lightweight and large-area solar panels in spacecraft has heightened their susceptibility to thermally induced vibration (TIV) under extreme space thermal cycling, which may compromise attitude stability and operational lifespan of the spacecraft. Thus, this work expands a novel application of active control scheme in suppressing TIV response for the photovoltaic-thermoelectric hybrid device with discontinuously distributed piezoelectric patches under space heat flux. The thermo-electro-elastic coupling motion equations are formulated with the law of energy conservation, first-order shear deformation theory as well as Lagrange equations, and solved by the finite difference method and Newmark integration technique. Based on the scheme, we design the negative velocity and displacement feedback controllers. The location of piezoelectric patch is optimized based on the system's controllability index in conjunction with the genetic algorithm. Our results indicate that the displacement feedback controller is more effective than the negative velocity feedback controller to reduce the response amplitude of low-frequency TIV behavior. The higher equivalent piezoelectric stress constants and the lower equivalent dielectric constant of piezoelectric materials yield the better vibration control performance. The TIV response is capable of availably suppressing by appropriately attaching piezoelectric patches near the cantilever end. A balance between the decline of response amplitude and reduce in total power output can be obtained by adjusting the covered area of piezoelectric patch. Relevant research work holds a notable advantage in the application where the active TIV control of spacecraft is demanded.