• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.7 no.5
• /
• pp.365-378
• /
• 2011

Piezo-based active structural health monitoring (SHM) requires amplifiers specifically designed for capacitive loads. Moreover, with the increase in number of applications of wireless SHM systems, energy efficiency and cost reduction for this type of amplifiers is becoming a requirement. General lab grade amplifiers are big and costly, and not built for outdoor environments. Although some piezoceramic power amplifiers are available in the market, none of them are specifically targeting the wireless constraints and low power requirements. In this paper, a piezoceramic transducer amplifier for wireless active SHM systems has been designed. Power requirements are met by two digital On/Off switches that set the amplifier in a standby state when not in use. It provides a stable ${\pm}180$ Volts output with a bandwidth of 7k Hz using a single 12 V battery. Additionally, both voltage and current outputs are provided for feedback control, impedance check, or actuator damage verification. Vibration control tests of an aluminum beam were conducted in the University of Houston lab, while wireless active SHM tests of a wind turbine blade were performed in the Harbin Institute of Technology wind tunnel. The results showed that the developed amplifier provided equivalent results to commercial solutions in suppressing structural vibrations, and that it allows researchers to perform active wireless SHM on moving objects with no power wires from the grid.