Hysteresis-reduced dynamic displacement control of piezoceramic stack actuators using model predictive sliding mode control

Abstract

Currently, piezoelectric actuators are being used in many applications from precision positioning control to active vibration control of large space structures. They can take the form of a solid-state device and are conveniently controlled by a voltage input. In spite of their relative ease of control, positioning accuracy and actuator longevity can be compromised by the hysteresis. Thus, the primary objective of this research is to minimize the hysteretic effect of a piezoelectric actuator in order to obtain a near linear relationship between the input voltage and the output displacement. The reduction of the hysteresis is accomplished by a newly developed control methodology named model predictive sliding mode control. A nonlinear energy-based hysteresis model is developed for a piezoelectric stack actuator and model predictive sliding mode control is applied to force the system state to reach a sliding surface in an optimal manner and track the reference signal accurately thereafter. To validate this new approach, simulations and experiments are conducted and the results highlight significantly improved hysteresis reduction in the displacement control of the piezoelectric stack actuator.