Control of propagating waves in rods by piezoelectric actuators and sensors

This paper deals with active control of propagating waves in rods. The mech anical models under consideration are characterized by hyperbolic equations with source terms. The latter ones describe the control or disturbance inp uts. Piezoelectric layers are used as actuators and sensors to affect the d ynamic behavior of the system. The controller design is based on the theory of Lagrangian systems with inputs. One can show that a special pairing of the actuators and sensors simplifies the controller design significantly, b ut this approach requires a specific design of the actuators and sensors. S mart structures based on piezoelectricity allow to construct spatially dist ributed devices, which are the prerequisites for the realization of so desi gned control laws.