Vibration suppression of a cylindrical shell structure by transmission path control

Suppressing vibration transmission from the engine to the cylindrical shell of an unmanned underwater vehicle is an important measure to reduce vibration and sound radiation of the shell structure. Due to the limited space within the cylindrical shell, a compact transmission blocking structure (TBS) that integrates piezoelectric actuators and rubber isolators is proposed to prevent vibration transmission. To verify the feasibility of the transmission blocking structure in vibration control, the dynamic model of the vibration source-TBS-shell coupled system is established with the substructure synthesis method. The characteristics of power flow are analyzed and the effectiveness of the TBS is evaluated. A proof-of-principle experiment was conducted as well. Simulation and experimental results show that the piezoelectric actuators of the TBS can further reduce the harmonics on the basis of broadband attenuation of the vibration of the cylindrical shell.