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Experimental modal analysis of straight and curved slender beams by piezoelectric transducers

  • Nonlinear Dynamics, Identification and Monitoring of Structures
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Abstract

We present the use of piezoelectric disk buzzers, usual in stringed musical instruments to acquire sound as a voltage signal, for experimental modal analysis. These transducers helped in extracting natural frequencies and mode shapes of an aluminium beam and a steel arch in the laboratory. The results are compared with theoretical predictions and experimental values obtained by accelerometers and a laser displacement transducer. High accuracy, small dimensions, low weight, easy usage, and low cost, make piezoelectric pickups an attractive tool for the experimental modal analysis of engineering structures.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the support of institutional grants of the University “La Sapienza”, Rome. Special thanks also to Eng. M. Tonici for the needful cooperation provided in many phases of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale e Geotecnica, Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

    Gianfranco Piana, Egidio Lofrano, Achille Paolone & Giuseppe Ruta

  2. Dipartimento di Ingegneria Strutturale, Edile e Geotecnica, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

    Alberto Carpinteri

Authors
  1. Gianfranco Piana
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  2. Egidio Lofrano
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  3. Alberto Carpinteri
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  4. Achille Paolone
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  5. Giuseppe Ruta
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Correspondence to Giuseppe Ruta.

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Piana, G., Lofrano, E., Carpinteri, A. et al. Experimental modal analysis of straight and curved slender beams by piezoelectric transducers. Meccanica 51, 2797–2811 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-016-0487-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11012-016-0487-y

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