Multifunctional design of inertially-actuated velocity feedback controllers

Area of Science:

• Mechanical Engineering
• Control Systems
• Structural Dynamics

Background:

• Structural vibrations pose challenges in various engineering applications.
• Traditional vibration control methods include passive tuned mass dampers and active control systems.
• Integrating passive and active control offers potential for enhanced performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a multifunctional system using an inertial actuator for both passive tuned mass damping and active vibration control.
• To develop a compensator enabling stable active control with an inertial actuator's natural frequency close to structural modes.
• To demonstrate the system's effectiveness in reducing vibrations on a panel and a beam.

Main Methods:

• Design of a multifunctional system integrating an inertial actuator.
• Implementation of a velocity feedback control loop with a compensator.
• Experimental validation on a panel and a beam structure.
• Analysis of passive damping effects before and active damping effects after loop closure.

Main Results:

• The inertial actuator demonstrated effectiveness as a passive tuned mass damper.
• The compensator facilitated stable active vibration control, even with the actuator's natural frequency near structural modes.
• The integrated system achieved broadband damping, surpassing passive-only control.
• Experimental results confirmed significant vibration reduction on both panel and beam structures.

Conclusions:

• The designed multifunctional system effectively combines passive tuned mass damping and active vibration control.
• The proposed compensator is crucial for achieving stable active control with inertial actuators.
• This integrated approach offers a robust solution for structural vibration mitigation.