Active Vibration Control System Research Articles

Non-probabilistic time-variant reliability assessment (NTRA) for the active control of vibration systems with convex uncertainties

Uncertainties, such as material dispersion, loading fluctuation and cognitive inconsistency, widely exist in active vibration control systems, and more importantly, the controller performance is generally sensitive to the parametric deviation. Thus, the uncertainty-oriented safety assessment for the controlled structure is of great significance in practical engineering. In view of the limitation of uncertain samples, a novel non-probabilistic time-variant reliability assessment (NTRA) approach, which combines the set-theoretical convex model and the first-passage method, is proposed for vibration suppression problems under the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control scheme. Boundary rules and the time-dependency features of the controlled responses are first determined using the space–state transformation and the convex process theory. For safety reasons, a new time-variant reliability index is defined under the area–ratio principle, and its solution details are further discussed. Two engineering examples and one experimental case are presented to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the developed methodology.

Simulation-Based Dimensioning of the Required Actuator Force for Active Vibration Control

The material removal rates of machine tools are often limited by chatter, which is caused by the machine’s most flexible structural modes. Active vibration control systems mitigate chatter vibrations and increase the chatter-free depth of cut. The systems can be used for already-in-use machine tools in particular as a retrofit solution. Unfortunately, no dimensioning techniques exist to help in finding the right actuator size required for a specific machine tool. This publication presents a simulation-based dimensioning methodology that determines, based on a stability analysis, the required actuator force and bandwidth. First, the critical machining processes, based on machine tool specific parameters, are identified. Then, the required actuator force and bandwidth are determined with the help of a coupled simulation model that consists of a cutting force model, the machine’s structural dynamics, and a model of the active vibration control system.

Adaptive Active Vibration Control for Machine Tools with Highly Position-Dependent Dynamics

The material removal rates of machine tools are often limited by chatter, which is caused by the machine’s most flexible structural modes. Active vibration control systems mitigate chatter vibrations and increase the chatter free axial depth of cut. However, model-based control strategies reach their limit if the machine tool exhibits highly position-dependent dynamics. In this paper, an adaptive control strategy is presented. This strategy uses online system identification to adapt the controller. The adaption algorithm is mainly automated. However, a few parameters still need to be selected. Therefore, a methodology for the determination of the optimal parameters is proposed. The adaptive controller was implemented on a B&R PLC and its suitability was verified experimentally by the observation of notable increases in the chatter-free material removal rates.

Advanced two-step integrated optimization of actively controlled nonlinear structure under mainshock–aftershock sequences

In this paper, an attempt is made to examine a new method for designing and applying the active vibration control system to improve building performance under mainshock–aftershock sequences. In this regard, three different structures are considered; 5-, 10-, and 15-story buildings. Seven mainshock–aftershock sequences are selected from the Iranian accelerogram database for analyzing the structures. By implementing an advanced two-step optimization method, buildings equipped with the active vibration control system (linear–quadratic regulator (LQR) algorithm) are designed to withstand all events of mainshock–aftershock sequences. In the first optimization step, a multi-objective optimization with the genetic algorithm is performed and a set of optimal Pareto front results is obtained. In the next step, the life-cycle cost of each optimal design sample of the Pareto front is calculated by considering the cumulative damage and the design sample with the minimum cost is selected as a final optimal property. The results prove that the active vibration control system is capable of reducing structural responses, including acceleration, drift, and residual drift under mainshock–aftershock sequences, and consequently the life-cycle cost of buildings, especially the taller ones. In addition, obtaining the building design variables (story stiffness and yielding force) and active LQR algorithm properties simultaneously leads to a slightly softer final building model than the conventional structure designed by the common building design code. Moreover, it is revealed that, by considering the aftershocks, the building life-cycle cost increases significantly.

Development and Implementation of a Multi-Channel Active Control System for the Reduction of Road Induced Vehicle Interior Noise

An optimized driving comfort with a low interior noise level is an important intention in the passenger car development process. The interior noise level caused by the dynamic interaction between the rolling tyre and the rough road surface and transmitted via the car-body is a significant component of the entire noise level. To reduce the road induced interior noise, in general, the chassis system has to be optimized. Passive measures often induces a trade-off between vehicle dynamics and driving comfort. To overcome this disadvantage in this paper, the development and realization of an active measure is proposed. For the purpose of active mechanical decoupling, an active control system is developed, the feasibility of the integration is investigated and its noise reduction potential is identified by vehicle tests. In a first step, a classical multi-channel and experimental-based structure-borne transfer path analysis of the full vehicle is realized to determine the dominant transfer paths. The concept for the active mount system (active mounts, multi-channel control system, sensors) is developed and parametrized by system level simulation. Mechanical components and power electronics of the active system are designed, manufactured and tested in the laboratory. Subsequently, the entire active system is integrated into the vehicle. The broadband adaptive feedforward algorithm is extended by certain measures in order to improve robustness and performance. Full vehicle tests are used to quantify the required specifications and the achieved effectiveness of the active vibration control system.

Combined adaptive feedback and feedforward compensation for active vibration control using Youla–Kučera parametrization

The combination of adaptive feedforward with adaptive feedback disturbance compensation has been suggested since a number of years as a potential solution for improving the performance of active vibration control systems. Unfortunately, as shown in the present paper there is a strong coupling between adaptive feedback and adaptive feedforward which may lead to instabilities and new algorithms which take into account this interaction are proposed in the paper. These algorithms take advantage of the Youla-Kučera parametrization of the feedback controller and feedforward compensator. First, the adaptive feedback algorithm is presented alone. Then, the adaptive feedforward algorithm is designed taking into account the feedback controller's presence in the loop. Stability of the complete scheme is obtained by appropriately filtering the regressor vectors in order to take into account a strictly positive real condition. Experimental results obtained on a relevant test-bench illustrate the performance of this approach to active vibration control. Comparison with adaptive feedback alone, with adaptive feedforward alone and adaptive feedforward + fixed feedback are provided.

Active vibration control of a hoop truss structure with piezoelectric bending actuators based on a fuzzy logic algorithm

Active vibration control of large flexible space structure is a challenging topic in the system dynamics and control of spacecraft. This paper proposes a novel approach for vibration control on a large hoop truss structure, typically used as mesh satellite antenna. First, to suppress the first-order bending modal response of the hoop truss structure with an initial disturbance, a piezoelectric bending actuator with excellent bending actuation performance was carefully designed as a key component of an active vibration control system. Then, the actuating characteristics of the actuator and the dynamic equations of the active structure were analyzed and formulated based on a finite element method. In order to improve the vibration-attenuating effect of the control system, a Mamdani-type fuzzy logic algorithm was employed in a closed-loop control system. Finally, simulations and experiments were implemented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed active control approach and structure. The experimental results showed that the decay time of first-order bending modal response (around 0.34 Hz) of control system reduces by 75% compared with that of the uncontrolled system. The results demonstrate that the proposed active vibration control system has good application potential in controlling the bending modes of a large flexible spacecraft.

Multimodal suppression of vibration in smart flexible beam using piezoelectric electrode-based switching control

This paper describes an active vibration control system combining a piezoelectric electrode configured with a novel switching control system to achieve multimodal vibration suppression in smart flexible structures embedded with only a single piezoelectric actuator. The fact that high-frequency vibrations attenuate more rapidly than do low frequency vibrations motivated the development of a novel scheme in which the resonant excitation of coupled bending and lateral vibrations is applied to a cantilever beam. Switching times are determined using time-frequency analysis of modal responses. A smoothing function was applied to alleviate the effects of high-frequency oscillations during the switching control transition in order to facilitate the suppression of bending mode vibrations. Algorithms for proportional derivative (PD) control and positive position feedback (PPF) control can be tailored specifically for the target vibration modes and implemented in a variety of switching control schemes. The vibration responses induced by various switching control schemes was analyzed in order to derive appropriate control parameters for the development of an efficient switching control system aimed at suppressing multimodal vibrations. Experiment results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed piezoelectric electrode configuration in suppressing lateral mode vibrations. The proposed switching control system also proved highly satisfactory in suppressing vibrations in a system subject to simultaneous bending mode excitation.

Active vibration control of piezoelectric smart beams with radial basis function generated finite difference collocation method

A local collocation method based on finite difference generated radial basis functions considering supplementary polynomials is used to solve the governing equations of cantilever piezoelectric smart beams. The natural modes of vibration of a bimorph and a three-layered smart beam with an interior aluminium core are analysed for both open-circuit and closed-circuit electrical boundary conditions. Very accurate results are obtained at a low computational cost. Subsequently, a constant gain velocity feedback active vibration control system is implemented, and the time and frequency response functions of both beams subjected to initial impulse and displacement conditions are investigated. Different values of the applied gain and varying thickness of the piezoelectric layers are analysed. The governing equations are established using equivalent-single-layer first-order-shear-deformation theory with through-the-thickness quadratic layerwise electric potential for improved accuracy.

Piezoelectric Plates Distribution for Active Control of Torsional Vibrations

The active vibration control systems have received considerable attention in various areas of mechanical engineering. The advent of smart materials has significantly increased the available solutions for engineers in this field. Among these, piezoelectric materials are among the most promising ones but their placement is an important parameter for their efficiency. The optimal placement to damp the flexural modes is a topic widely studied in the literature but this is not for the torsional modes. In this paper a new analytical method to find the optimal placement of piezoelectric plates to control the multimode torsional vibrations of a cantilever beam is proposed. The results are compared with those obtained by a finite element code with a very good agreement.

Piezoelectric self-sensing actuator for active vibration control of motorized spindle based on adaptive signal separation

The motorized spindle is the core component of CNC machine tools, and the vibration of it reduces the machining precision and service life of the machine tools. Owing to the fast response, large output force, and displacement of the piezoelectric stack, it is often used as the actuator in the active vibration control of the spindle. A piezoelectric self-sensing actuator (SSA) can reduce the cost of the active vibration control system and simplify the structure by eliminating the use of a sensor, because a SSA can have both actuating and sensing functions at the same time. The signal separation method of a SSA based on a bridge circuit is widely applied because of its simple principle and easy implementation. However, it is difficult to maintain dynamic balance of the circuit. Prior research has used adaptive algorithm to balance of the bridge circuit on the flexible beam dynamically, but those algorithms need no correlation between sensing and control voltage, which limit the applications of SSA in the vibration control of the rotor-bearing system. Here, the electromechanical coupling model of the piezoelectric stack is established, followed by establishment of the dynamic model of the spindle system. Next, a new adaptive signal separation method based on the bridge circuit is proposed, which can separate relative small sensing voltage from related mixed voltage adaptively. The experimental results show that when the self-sensing signal obtained from the proposed method is used as a displacement signal, the vibration of the motorized spindle can be suppressed effectively through a linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) algorithm.

An offset hub active vibration control system for mitigating helicopter vibrations during power loss: Simulation and experimental demonstration

In recent years, hub active vibration control (HAVC) technologies have been developed to attenuate blade pass frequency vibration on helicopters. While these systems provide superior vibration control with reduced weight compared to passive options, in the event of electrical power loss they can exacerbate the vibration problem in a manner that is problematic for helicopter and tiltrotor aircraft. This paper presents an offset hub active vibration control system (OHAVCS) designed to attenuate vibration during a power loss by offsetting the centers of rotation of two imbalance masses. The equations of motion for this system are developed using Lagrangian methods; analysis, simulation and experimental validation of these equations indicate that offsetting the imbalance masses effectively mitigates 1/Rev vibrations during a rotor hub power loss while continuing to cancel N/Rev vibrations during normal operation. These offsets create stabilizing centripetal torques that rotate each imbalance mass to a unique equilibrium angle. Experimental data also indicate that these offsets do not hinder control of the imbalance masses during normal (active) operation, though they do increase system power requirements.

Observer-based repetitive model predictive control in active vibration suppression

In this paper, an observer-based feedback/feedforward model predictive control (MPC) algorithm is developed for addressing the active vibration control (AVC) of lightly damped structures. For this purpose, the feedback control design process is formulated in the framework of disturbance rejection control (DRC) and a repetitive MPC is adapted to guarantee the robust asymptotic stability of the closed-loop system. To this end, a recursive least squares (RLS) algorithm is engaged for online estimation of the disturbance signal, and the estimated disturbance is feed-forwarded through the control channels. The mismatched disturbance is considered as a broadband energy bounded unknown signal independent of the control input, and the internal model principle is adjusted to account for its governing dynamics. For the sake of relieving the computational burden of online optimization in MPC scheme, within the broad prediction horizons, a set of orthonormal Laguerre functions is utilized. The controller design is carried out on a reduced-order model of the experimental system in the nominal frequency range of operation. Accordingly, the system model is constructed following the frequency-domain subspace system identification method. Comprehensive experimental analyses in both time-/frequency-domain are performed to investigate the robustness of the AVC system regarding the unmodeled dynamics, parametric uncertainties, and external noises. Additionally, the spillover effect of the actuation authorities and saturation of the active elements as two common issues of AVC systems are addressed.

A novel approach to enhance the accuracy of vibration control of Frames

All structures built within known seismically active regions are typically designed to endure earthquake forces. Despite advances in earthquake resistant structures, it can be inferred from hindsight that no structure is entirely immune to damage from earthquakes. Active vibration control systems, unlike the traditional methods which enlarge beams and columns, are highly effective countermeasures to reduce the effects of earthquake loading on a structure. It requires fast computation of nonlinear structural analysis in near time and has historically demanded advanced programming hosted on powerful computers. This research aims to develop a new approach for active vibration control of frames, which is applicable over both elastic and plastic material behavior. In this study, the Force Analogy Method (FAM), which is based on Hook’s Law is further extended using the Timoshenko element which considers shear deformations to increase the reliability and accuracy of the controller. The proposed algorithm is applied to a 2D portal frame equipped with linear actuator, which is designed based on full state Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR). For comparison purposes, the portal frame is analysed by both the Euler Bernoulli and Timoshenko element respectively. The results clearly demonstrate the superiority of the Timoshenko element over Euler Bernoulli for application in nonlinear analysis.

Development of Approaches to Creation of Active Vibration Control System in Problems of the Dynamics for Granular Media

The article deals with the development of mathematical models and evaluation criteria of the vibration field in the dynamic interactions of the elements of the vibrational technological machines for the processes of vibrational strengthening of long-length parts with help of a steel balls working medium. The study forms a theoretical understanding of the modes of motions of material particles in interaction with a vibrating surface of the working body of the vibration machine. The generalized approach to the assessment of the dynamic quality of the work of vibrating machines in multiple modes of tossing, when the period of free flight of particles is a multiple of the period of the surface oscillations of the working body, is developed in the article. For the correction of vibration field of the working body, the characteristics of dynamic interactions of granular elements of the medium are taken into account using original sensors. The sensors that can detect different particularities of interaction of the granular medium elements at different points of the working body are proposed to evaluate the deviation from a homogeneous and one-dimensional mode of vibration field. Specially developed sensors are able to register interactions between a single granule, a system of granules in filamentous structures, and multipoint interactions of the elements in a close-spaced cylindrical structure. The system of regularization of the structure of vibration fields based on the introduction of motion translation devices is proposed using the multi-point sensor locations on the working body. The article refers to analytical approaches of the theory of vibration displacements. For the experimental data assessment, the methods of statistical analysis are applied. It is shown that the peculiar features of the motion of granular medium registered by the sensors can be used to build active control systems of field vibration.

Active vibration control design using the Coral Reefs Optimization with Substrate Layer algorithm

Active vibration control (AVC) via inertial-mass actuators is a viable technique to mitigate human-induced vibrations in civil structures. A multi-input multi-output (MIMO) AVC has been previously proposed in the literature to simultaneously find the sensor/actuator pairs’ optimal placements and tune the control gains. However, the method involved local gradient-based methods, which is not affordable when the number of possible locations of actuators is large. In this case, the computation time to obtain a local solution may be huge and unaffordable, which limits the number of test points and/or actuators/sensors considered. This paper proposes an alternative approach based on a recently proposed meta-heuristic, the Coral Reefs Optimization (CRO) algorithm. More concretely, an enhanced version of the CRO is considered, the Coral Reefs Optimization with Substrate Layer (CRO-SL). The CRO-SL is a competitive co-evolution algorithm in which different exploration procedures are jointly evolved within a single population of potential solutions to the problem. The proposed algorithm is thus able to promote competition among different search methods to solve hard optimization problems. In terms of structural design, this work provides an important step to improve the applicability of AVC systems to real complex structures (with a large number of vibration modes and/or with a large number of test points) by achieving global optimum designs with affordable computation time. A finite element model of a real complex floor structure is used to illustrate the contributions of this paper.

Application of a movable active vibration control system on a floating raft

This paper presents a theoretical study of an inertial actuator connected to an accelerometer by a local feedback loop for active vibration control on a floating raft. On the criterion of the minimum power transmission from the vibratory machines to the flexible foundation in the floating raft, the best mounting positions for the inertial actuator on the intermediate mass of the floating raft are investigated. Simulation results indicate that the best mounting positions for the inertial actuator vary with frequency. To control time-varying excitations of vibratory machines on a floating raft effectively, an automatic control system based on real-time measurement of a cost function and automatically searching the best mounting position of the inertial actuator is proposed. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that an automatic control system is proposed to move an actuator automatically for controlling a time-varying excitation.

Active vibration control of support sting in wind tunnel by using adaptive method

The low-frequency and large-amplitude coupled vibration of the support sting in wind tunnel affects the accuracy of the wind tunnel test’s data. An active vibration control system of support sting in wind tunnel is demonstrated using adaptive control method in this paper. Following the establishment of the finite element model, and the extraction of parameter matrix, the original model is reduced to lower-mode model which contains first two pitching modes based on DC gain ranking method. The active control model is proposed based on model reference adaptive control method (RACM) to control the low-frequency vibration of supporting sting in wind tunnel. Research results have justified the effectiveness of the controlled system and provided insight into the practical application of the proposed method.

Invited Review: Recent developments in vibration control of building and bridge structures

This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of recent articles published on active, passive, semi-active and hybrid vibration control systems for structures under dynamic loadings primarily since 2013. Active control systems include active mass dampers, active tuned mass dampers, distributed mass dampers, and active tendon control. Passive systems include tuned mass dampers (TMD), particle TMD, tuned liquid particle damper, tuned liquid column damper (TLCD), eddy-current TMD, tuned mass generator, tuned-inerter dampers, magnetic negative stiffness device, resetting passive stiffness damper, re-entering shape memory alloy damper, viscous wall dampers, viscoelastic dampers, and friction dampers. Semi-active systems include tuned liquid damper with floating roof, resettable variable stiffness TMD, variable friction dampers, semi-active TMD, magnetorheological dampers, leverage-type stiffness controllable mass damper, semi-active friction tendon. Hybrid systems include shape memory alloys-liquid column damper, shape memory alloy-based damper, and TMD-high damping rubber.

Analysis and compensation of reference frequency mismatch in multiple-frequency feedforward active noise and vibration control system

In the field of active noise and vibration control (ANVC), a considerable part of unwelcome noise and vibration is resulted from rotational machines, making the spectrum of response signal multiple-frequency. Narrowband filtered-x least mean square (NFXLMS) is a very popular algorithm to suppress such noise and vibration. It has good performance since a priori-knowledge of fundamental frequency of the noise source (called reference frequency) is adopted. However, if the priori-knowledge is inaccurate, the control performance will be dramatically degraded. This phenomenon is called reference frequency mismatch (RFM). In this paper, a novel narrowband ANVC algorithm with orthogonal pair-wise reference frequency regulator is proposed to compensate for the RFM problem. Firstly, the RFM phenomenon in traditional NFXLMS is closely investigated both analytically and numerically. The results show that RFM changes the parameter estimation problem of the adaptive controller into a parameter tracking problem. Then, adaptive sinusoidal oscillators with output rectification are introduced as the reference frequency regulator to compensate for the RFM problem. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can dramatically suppress the multiple-frequency noise and vibration with an improved convergence rate whether or not there is RFM. Finally, case studies using experimental data are conducted under the conditions of none, small and large RFM. The shaft radial run-out signal of a rotor test-platform is applied to simulate the primary noise, and an IIR model identified from a real steel structure is applied to simulate the secondary path. The results further verify the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.