Effects of mechanical boundary conditions and electromechanical shunt tuning on PZT vibration control

The use of smart materials provides a compact and efficient solution for vibration attenuation in structures. This research investigates a flexible beam equipped with a surface-mounted piezoelectric patch connected to a tuned resistive–inductive shunt circuit, considering both series and parallel configurations under different boundary conditions. The electromechanically coupled equations are derived using Hamilton's principle and Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, and solved via the finite element method with modal reduction. In order to ensure methodological rigor and facilitate experimental reproducibility, the analyses are deliberately performed at relatively higher frequency ranges than those typically observed in practical structural applications. The results show that passive shunt damping efficiency depends strongly on the interaction between mechanical and electrical parameters, with boundary conditions, patch position, and resistance tuning each playing a decisive role. Series and parallel shunt topologies exhibit complementary advantages depending on the control objective. This study lies in the comparative assessment of metaheuristic optimization methods for determining optimal resistance values, revealing faster and more stable convergence with Particle Swarm Optimization, while Genetic Algorithm achieves comparable performance despite stochastic fluctuations. The findings provide practical design guidelines for optimizing piezoelectric shunt systems, contributing to the advancement of passive vibration control strategies in lightweight structures.