Active Vibration Control™ (AVC)

Active Vibration Control™ (AVC) uses proprietary fiber composites with a power management circuit to cause the fiber composites to reduce the vibration. This improves product performance or lengthens product life. The key advantages over traditional passive dampening materials are flexibility, lighter weight, and more effective reduction of vibration!

At the heart of ACI’s active vibration control is the reverse piezo effect – input of voltage to a PFC (piezoelectric fiber composite) creates a proportional mechanical force or mechanical “actuation” to the piezoelectric composite. The indirect (or inverse) piezoelectric effect occurs when the application of an electric field causes a physical distortion of the piezoelectric material and consequently to the structures to which it is attached or in which it is embedded.

Active Vibration Control offers enhanced structural performance, proactive maintenance, lower noise levels, and extended system life while greatly reducing operating costs.

Application Example

HEAD introduced Intellifiber and Intellichip (www.head.com) active fiber composite tennis rackets and skis with energy harvesting actuators made from ACI's patented piezoelectric fiber. These self-powered "Smart" products actively dampen vibrations and deliver torsional stability created during a ball strike or edge chatter from a ski turn by using the energy created to control the shape of the ski or racket. This active structural control adds up to 15% more power to a ball hit and more functional edge on a ski. The results were "Tennis Racket of the Year", and three Olympic medals for HEAD and its customers.

There are many other application areas that could benefit from better vibration control including:

• Hoses – aircraft, space craft, air conditioning and automobile hoses

• Rotor blades – helicopters and wind generators

• Self-powered sensors – monitoring vibration in production environments for proactive maintenance systems

• Sporting goods – skis, rackets, hockey sticks and bows