Multi-objective optimization of an active constrained layer damping treatment for vibrationcontrol of a rotating flexible arm

Abstract

This paper describes the use of the multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) to solve anintegrated optimization problem of a rotating flexible arm with active constrainedlayer damping (ACLD) treatment. The arm is rotating in a horizontal plane withtriangular velocity profiles. The ACLD patch is placed at the clamped end of the arm.The design objectives are to minimize the total treatment weight, the controlvoltage and the tip displacement of the arm, as well as to maximize the passivedamping characteristic of the arm. Design variables include the control gains,the maximum angular velocity, the shear modulus of the viscoelastic layer, thethickness of the piezoelectric constraining and viscoelastic layers, and the lengthof the ACLD patch. In order to evaluate the effect of different combinations ofdesign variables on the system, the finite element method, in conjunction with theGolla–Hughes–McTavish (GHM) method, is employed to model the flexible arm withACLD treatment to predict its dynamic behavior, in which the effects of centrifugalstiffening due to the rotation of flexible arm are taken into account. As a result ofoptimization, reasonable Pareto solutions are successfully obtained. It is shownthat the MOGA is applicable to the present integrated optimization problem.