The purpose of present investigations is development of optimisation methodology for an active vibration control to obtain composite structures with maximum damping and minimum actuator quantity and energy applied, extending by this way the structural life and reducing operation costs. In the first stage the parametric analysis is carried out for a one-dimensional problem to study an optimal placement of piezoelectric actuators for the vibration reduction. It is well known that an active control is more effective in application to operate with lower structural modes. Vibration control of a clamped-free beam under variable harmonic pressure is realized through piezoelectric actuators bonded on the panel. Simulations of an active control are performed in ANSYS environment. The shell elements (SHELL99) are used for the modelling of piezoelectric actuators and beam. Since an investigated panel is thin, the thermal analogy is applied, where piezoelectric coefficients characterising actuator are examined as thermal expansion coefficients. Using results of a parametric study (Fig. 1), a problem for the optimum placement of piezoelectric actuators has been formulated for the two-dimensional case presenting an active control of laminated composite plate.