Optimal balancing of slider-crank servomechanism: closed-loop optimal position control approach

Abstract

Minimisation of shaking forces in mechanisms is an important issue in industry due to its destructive vibrations and acoustical disturbances. Practically, it may be impossible to eliminate the shaking forces because of many factors such as unfeasible counterweights and/or counter-rotators. However, it can be minimised. This paper presents a novel method, based on the closed-loop optimal control theory to indirectly minimise the shaking forces and input torques. To this end, the integrated design method is extended to closed-chain mechanisms. The proposed method is applied on a nonlinear position control problem. A slider-crank mechanism is utilised to validate the control algorithms. However, the proposed method can be simply extended to other mechanisms. The results indicate an impressive improvement in the shaking force reduction with an insignificant change in the control performance.