Vibration Of Flexible Structures Research Articles

Energy harvesting from wake-induced vibration of flexible flapper behind a bluff body

Piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibrations offers a promising small-scale energy generation strategy, with wake-induced vibration of flexible structures being an ideal candidate. This study examines a bluff body followed by a fully flexible piezoelectric flapper in a viscous free-stream flow using an in-house discrete forcing immersed boundary method-based fluid-structure-electric energy solver for parametric investigation. Different vortex shedding regimes are identified based on vortex formation around the flexible flapper. The complex and interdependent spatiotemporal dynamics of the wake and flexible body dictated by parameters such as bending rigidity and the gap space between the flapper and bluff body result in various deformation profiles, influencing the strain rate and output power. The study also investigates the independent variation of flapper length and its impact on vortical arrangements and flexibility, introducing different oscillation modes. The present study takes a nuanced view of the overall dynamics and their mutual effect on the power output, unlike most existing studies where enhancing the amplitude and frequency of oscillations for an optimal output was the main concern. Factors such as flapper curvature, its asymmetry, and periodicity have been especially highlighted in the context of the output and the corresponding parametric spaces investigated. Interestingly, the increase in piezo-flapper length has seen a reduction in output, though it was instrumental in bringing symmetry back. The study offers comprehensive insights into ideal harvesting regimes and the underlying dynamical mechanisms and can contribute toward the design of future energy harvesting devices.

A multi-point decentralized control for mitigating vibration of flexible space structures using reaction wheel actuators

The vibration with large amplitude and low frequency of the flexible space structures is prone to affect the attitude stability and pointing precision of the spacecraft. To mitigate the vibration of the flexible space structures, a multi-point decentralized control strategy using reaction wheel (RW) actuators is proposed and investigated in this paper. The motion equations of the solar array with multiple RW actuators are derived in modal coordinate representation. To suppress the overall response of the structure, the decentralized control strategy using RW actuators is designed based on the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The stability and the effect of closed-loop dynamic system is theoretically proved. The comparative studies under sun-pointing of the solar array and the rest-to-rest orbital maneuver conditions are presented to show the control performance of the RW actuators. The results indicate that, with 2% increase in total mass from the addition of the actuators, the vibration attenuation time can be decreased by 85.25% and 94.16% for the vibration excited by the sun-pointing and the rest-to-rest orbital maneuver, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed decentralized control method. Theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and experimental study are conducted to demonstrate the validity of the proposed vibration mitigation approach and its potential application in the spacecraft design.

A study of analyzing longitudinal dynamic behavior of a double-rod system with longitudinal nonlinear supports

In engineering, shafting systems are typically subjected to longitudinal vibration excitations, which may result in unwanted vibration. To study the control of longitudinal vibration in shafting systems, they can be simplified to rod structures. Currently, engineers have attempted to apply the nonlinear principle to design nonlinear supports to control the vibration of flexible structures. However, the flexible structures referenced in the literature are usually composed of a single component, which limits the application of nonlinear supports to more complex structures. To explore the potential application of nonlinear supports in marine engineering, this work introduces a longitudinal vibration prediction model for a double-rod system equipped with longitudinal nonlinear supports. The generalized Hamilton principle is used to derive the governing equations for the double-rod system with longitudinal nonlinear supports. The longitudinal vibration responses of the double-rod system are numerically solved using the Galerkin truncation method. The numerical results confirm that a 1-term truncation number guarantees the stability of the longitudinal vibration prediction model. Under certain conditions, the longitudinal vibration responses are significantly affected by longitudinal nonlinear supports. It is recommended to install longitudinal nonlinear supports on both Rod 1 and Rod 2 simultaneously to suppress vibration in the first two main resonance orders. With reasonable excitations, the vibration state and magnitudes of the double-rod system can be effectively controlled by adjusting the longitudinal nonlinear supports. Complex longitudinal vibration responses are more readily induced by altering the parameters of the longitudinal nonlinear support installed on Rod 1. Choosing appropriate parameters for the nonlinear supports on Rod 1 and Rod 2 positively contributes to the reduction of vibration in the double-rod system.

Dynamic modeling and vibration control optimization of a rotating hollow beam with ESACLD treatment

As an active and passive hybrid control technology, enhanced segmented active constrained layer damping (ESACLD) is an intelligent damping structure for suppressing adverse vibrations in flexible structures. In this study, the three-dimensional spatial dynamic model of a rotating hollow beam with improved ESACLD treatment is established based on the finite element method in a floating frame of reference. The damping effects of the ESACLD with both edge elements and incisions are considered in the dynamic model for the first time. Simulation results show the damping performance of the ESACLD is better than traditional active constrained layer damping with or without incisions (SACLD or ACLD). The Genetic Algorithm-Backpropagation (GA-BP) neural network is used to optimize the physical parameters of ESACLD, and the optimized model can effectively suppress the transverse and flapping bending vibration. It is also found that flapping and transverse bending vibrations exhibit differential dependence on nutation and precession angular velocities; higher nutation and lower precession velocities suppress flapping bending. The existing commercial finite element software has some problems, such as low efficiency and inaccuracy. The new finite element proposed in this paper uses a new form function to ensure accuracy in the simulation of rotation and vibration and has obvious advantages in dealing with rotational structures and complex boundary conditions. Research in this work can provide a design framework for vibration prediction and control of flexible beam-like structures.

Active Vibration Control of Flexible Structures with Super-Coiled Actuators

Flexible structures show low natural frequencies and light damping and often suffer from various dynamic loads, leading to low-frequency vibrations. Active vibration control is necessary for precision operation and long-term service of such structures, and a flexible actuator with a large actuation force and stroke is a key limitation. In this paper, super-coiled (SC) actuators, fabricated from fibers by twisting and inserting, were introduced to actively suppress the low-frequency vibration of flexible structures. Two SC actuators were symmetrically mounted on both surfaces of a cantilever beam to generate actuation forces. The force model of thermally driven SC actuators was developed, and a dynamic model of a cantilever beam with SC actuators was then proposed and validated via experimental actuation. Three types of control strategies, open loop, velocity negative feedback, and linear quadratic regulator (LQR), were adopted for vibration suppression. The results show that the proposed model fits quite well with the experimental data, and the maximum error between the experiment and the prediction is 3.90% among various driven currents. In velocity negative feedback control and LQR control, a 91.83% reduction of dynamic response is achieved, which validates the feasibility of using the actuator for low-frequency vibration control.

Super-sensitivity full-field measurement of structural vibration with an adaptive incoherent optical method

Full-field measurements of structural vibrations have been achieved by incoherent optical methods with video cameras such as digital image correlation and optical flow. In contrast to coherent optical methods such as scanning laser vibrometers, incoherent optical methods are low-cost and easy to set up. However, the sensitivity (minimum measurable displacement) of incoherent optical methods is generally lower than that of coherent optical methods. Typically, the sensitivity of incoherent optical methods is essentially limited by the finite bit depth of the digital camera due to the quantization with round-off errors. Quantitatively, this theoretical sensitivity limit is determined by the bit depth B as δp=1/(2B−1) [pixel] which corresponds to a displacement causing an intensity change of one gray level. Fortunately, natural dithering may be leveraged to overcome the quantization and exceed the sensitivity limit, achieving super-sensitivity.In this work, we first study the mechanism of the sensitivity limit induced by the quantization and the critical limitation of existing super-sensitivity methods in the full-field measurement of structural vibration. Addressing such a limitation, we present a general adaptive weighted averaging method with dithering, achieving super-sensitivity incoherent optical measurement of full-field deformational vibration of flexible structures. Specifically, both spatial and temporal samplings of the pixels are leveraged simultaneously to adaptively identify the motion (deformation) shape of the structure by principal component analysis (PCA) of spatiotemporal pixel intensities. Then, the identified deformation shape is used to perform a deformation-shape-weighted averaging over spatial pixels with dithering, revealing the sub-sensitivity displacement while retaining spatial resolution at full field. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments are performed for principle explanation and method validation. Particularly, we derive a mathematical model of the minimum measurable vibration amplitude A∗ for the developed super-sensitivity method, which is found to be determined by the number of spatial pixels for averaging Ns and the noise level σn in the imaging system. Thus, this work provides, for the first time, a rigorous quantification of the sensitivity of incoherent optical measurement for structural vibration, and a new quantitative method to achieve super-sensitivity full-field measurement of structural vibration.

Multi-objective optimization of actuators and consensus ADP-based vibration control for the large flexible space structures

In this study, the multi-objective optimization and decision-making for optimal positions of actuators and consensus adaptive dynamic programming (CADP) are investigated to mitigate the vibration of large flexible space structures (LFSS). The optimization of the actuator positions maintains a balance between maximizing actuation efficiency and maximizing input voltage decoupling. Meanwhile, the CADP control method accelerates the attenuation of vibration when agents collaborate in the designed communication topology network. First, the electromechanical coupled dynamic model of the LFSS is built by the finite element method. Subsequently, the multi-objective optimization criteria are proposed, which maximize the actuation efficiency and decoupling of control inputs. Moreover, the multi-objective optimization and decision-making, which is based on the non-dominated sorting differential evolutionary algorithm (NSDE) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS), respectively, are performed to rapidly find the optimal position of actuators. In addition, the CADP control algorithm is designed and its stability is proven. Finally, for harmonic excitation under multi-frequency superposition, simulation comparisons based on the CADP and adaptive dynamic programming (ADP) are performed. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization criterion of actuators and the CADP algorithm for vibration mitigation of LFSS.

The vibroacoustic characteristics and regulation rules of Panel–Cavity–Panel System controlled by Piezoelectric Shunt Oscillators with negative capacitors

Piezoelectric Shunt Oscillators (PSOs) are widely used in the passive and semi-active control of the vibration and acoustic radiation of flexible structures, due to PSOs’ high electromechanical coupling coefficients, robustness, effectiveness and adjustability at low frequencies. Panel–Cavity–Panel System (PCPS) is a common type of flexible structures, such as interior panels and windows of automobiles. In this paper, a theoretical model of PCPS controlled by PSOs and its vibration equations are established. The vibroacoustic characteristics of PCPS, including sound absorption coefficient (SAC), energy loss coefficient (ELC) and transmission loss (TL), are calculated using a unified mathematical form based on the vibroacoustic radiation impedance matrix, damping matrix and displacement response of PCPS, while a lumped parameter model of PCPS is derived to simplify the comprehension and extension of PCPS. Then the finite element simulation is used to calculate the vibroacoustic characteristics of the PCPS, which achieves good agreement with theoretical results, while three basic regulation modes are also summarized and verified. The regulation mechanism of PCPS controlled by PSOs is further analyzed by the velocity response of each panel. Finally, experiments of PCPS controlled by PSOs with negative capacitors are conducted in a standing wave tube, at non-eigenfrequencies ranging from 70 Hz to 220 Hz. It is found in experiments that PSOs with negative capacitor can increase the TL of PCPS about 8 dB to 25 dB, which depends on the target frequency. SAC and ELC can also be increased, which means less acoustic energy is reflected and more acoustic energy is dissipated in the shunt circuits.

Duffing-type digitally programmable nonlinear synthetic inductance for piezoelectric structures

Piezoelectric shunt damping techniques using linear circuits (e.g. resistive-inductive) and switching circuits (e.g. synchronized switch on inductor) have been extremely well studied for suppressing resonant vibrations in flexible structures. Both analog circuits and synthetic impedance circuits with digital control have been explored for linear concepts. In a parallel body of work, from the domain of mechanical methods of vibration attenuation, it is also known that leveraging nonlinearities (e.g. stiffness nonlinearity) can enhance the frequency bandwidth and offer amplitude-dependent suppression over a range of frequencies. However, the existing piezoelectric shunt damping techniques have been mostly limited to linear or switching nonlinear circuits, with the exception of a few nonlinear capacitance efforts. This work aims to introduce cubic inductance to emulate Duffing-type hardening nonlinearity in the shunt circuit with precise digital programming and tuning capability. Experiments are performed on a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever under base excitation for concept demonstration and model validation. First, linear frequency response functions of the cantilever are obtained for the short- and open-circuit conditions, and for linear resistive-inductive synthetic shunt damping, to confirm the standard linear behavior and electromechanical model parameters. Then, cubic inductance is introduced to the circuit and nonlinear experiments (up- and down-frequency sweep) are conducted. Cantilever tip to base motion transmissibility frequency response is measured along with piezoelectric voltage to base motion counterpart for a range of base excitation amplitudes. The distortion of the frequency response curves with increased base acceleration levels is observed. The nonlinear cubic coefficient is then varied to alter the manifestation of nonlinear frequency response at a given base excitation level, demonstrating the ease of tuning and triggering the nonlinear behavior on demand by means of the digitally-controlled synthetic impedance shunt. Nonlinear electromechanical model simulations are also validated against the experiments, yielding a very good agreement.

Optimization of the location of piezoelectric actuator and sensor in active vibration control using Multi-Verse Optimizer algorithm

In the process of using piezoelectric actuators and sensors to actively control the vibration of flexible structures, the controllability and spillover effect of the system are often the focus of attention, and the location of piezoelectric actuators and sensors is one of the key factors affecting controllability and spillover effect. In this paper, the residual modes are introduced into the location optimization criteria of actuators and sensors, so that the energy can drive as much as possible the eigenmodes that need to be controlled, and avoid driving the residual eigenmodes. At the same time, a modified Multi-Verse Optimizer (MVO) algorithm is used to optimize the location of piezoelectric actuators and sensors. The important results obtained in this paper are compared with the results obtained by the finite element simulation software to verify the accuracy of the relevant derivation results, and the optimization simulation of the position of piezoelectric actuator and the simulation of vibration control are carried out. The simulation results showed that, the MVO algorithm is very suitable for solving the optimization problems that these criteria are non-convex and difficult to derive, and the resulting optimized layout can effectively suppress vibration.

Optimized parametric hydrodynamic databases provide accurate response predictions and describe the physics of vortex-induced vibrations

We address the problem of obtaining accurate predictions of the vortex-induced vibrations (VIV) of flexible structures placed in cross-flow by reconstructing fluid force databases in parametric form. The forces are expressed in terms of hydrodynamic coefficients, which depend on several variables and parameters, including the structural properties and geometry, frequency and amplitude of vibration, and the flow conditions, so that a comprehensive database obtained with systematic experiments would require an intractably large number of tests. Therefore, we develop a method for determining optimal parametric hydrodynamic databases directly from a variety of free- and forced-vibration experiments on both rigid and flexible cylinders, by minimizing the error between the predicted responses using a software driven by the force database, and the measured data. We first describe the process of selecting an appropriate parametrization of the fluid forces as function of reduced frequency and non-dimensional amplitude of vibration, informed by Gaussian-Process-Regression-guided automated experiments. Several examples are selected to demonstrate the method’s ability to acquire optimal hydrodynamic databases, including data sets highlighting the effect of Reynolds number and the addition of in-line motion to cross-flow rigid cylinder VIV. The proposed methodology is further demonstrated to be effective when used with the semi-empirical program VIVA for flexible cylinder VIV, yielding significant improvements in prediction accuracy compared to baseline results. It therefore serves as a potential solution for the development of a digital twin for marine risers, an in-situ, real-time riser response prediction and structural health monitoring system.

Angular Displacement Control for Timoshenko Beam by Optimized Traveling Wave Method

The vibration of flexible structures in spacecraft, such as large space deployable reflectors, solar panels and large antenna structure, has a great impact on the normal operation of spacecraft. Accurate vibration control is necessary, and the control of angular displacement is a difficulty of accurate control. In the traditional control method, the mode space control has a good effect on suppressing low-order modes, but there is control overflow. The effect of traveling wave control on low-order modes is worse than the former, but it has the characteristics of broadband control. It can better control high-order modes and reduce control overflow. In view of the advantages and disadvantages of the two control methods, based on Timoshenko beam theory, this paper uses vector mode function to analyze the modal of spacecraft cantilever beam structure, establishes the system dynamic equation, and puts forward an optimized traveling wave control method. As a numerical example, three strategies of independent mode space control, traditional traveling wave control and optimized traveling wave control are used to control the active vibration of beam angle. By comparing the numerical results of the three methods, it can be seen that the optimal control method proposed in this paper not only effectively suppresses the vibration, but also improves the robustness of the system, reflecting good control performance. An innovation of this paper is that the Timoshenko beam model is adopted, which considers the influence of transverse shear deformation and moment of inertia on displacement and improves the accuracy of calculation, which is important for spacecraft accessory structures with high requirements for angle control. Another innovation is that the optimized traveling wave control method is exquisite in mathematical processing and has good results in global and local vibration control, which is not available in other methods.

Vibration control of three coupled flexible beams using reinforcement learning algorithm based on proximal policy optimization

In order to suppress the vibration of a class of multi-coupling flexible beams, a three-coupling flexible beam experimental device is constructed. The vibration characteristics and active vibration control algorithms of three coupled flexible beams are studied. Due to the complex residual vibration of multi-coupled flexible beam structure, which shows the interaction between beams and close frequency characteristics, the dynamic model of coupled flexible beam structure is established by finite element method (FEM) and its theoretical modal analysis is carried out. Furthermore, the parameters of the experimental system are identified, and the close modal frequencies and damping ratios of the actual system are obtained. The characteristics of close modal vibration are verified. A reinforcement learning (RL) vibration controller based on proximal policy optimization (PPO) algorithm is designed. The algorithm mainly includes actor neural network and critic neural network, which are used to approximate the control strategy and evaluate state respectively. Based on theoretical modeling and experimental identification correction model, the agent learns offline, and then transfers the learned policy parameters to the experimental system for vibration control experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that the designed RL controller can effectively suppress the residual vibration of three coupled flexible beams.

Influence of flexible structure vibration on the excitation forces delivered by multiple electrodynamic shakers

Multi-shaker vibration testing has gained increasing interest in recent years as researchers have demonstrated that complicated environmental response can be accurately replicated in the laboratory using multiple electrodynamic shakers. One of the crucial issues to be addressed is the discrepancy between the actual excitation forces and the required ones due to the coupling between the structure and multiple shakers. To analyze the excitation force characteristics, a coupled multi-shaker-cantilever beam system is studied and modeled using Hamiltonian principle and Galerkin’s approach, and the excitation forces exerted on the beam are derived. Comparisons of experimental and numerical results indicate that the developed model can accurately predict the excitation forces under multi-point excitation. Furthermore, the relationship between the excitation force Frequency Response Function (FRF) matrix and the dynamic characteristics of the coupled system is revealed, showing that driving point FRF Fii under multi-point excitation differs from that under single-point excitation. If the model parameters of two shakers are not perfectly identical, there will be an apparent discrepancy in amplitude-frequency characteristic between cross-point FRF Fij and Fji (i ≠ j), while the phase-frequency characteristics are identical. Besides, when multiple shakers simultaneously drive the structure, the excitation forces are coupled due to structure vibration. Therefore, it is necessary to consider this coupling effect when performing the multi-point excitation for flexible structure. The coupled shaker-beam model proposed in this paper can provide the basis for designing decoupling controller.

Vortex-induced vibration of a flexible rectangular cylinder: Experimental investigation and comparative study of theoretical models

The vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of slender flexible structures is usually estimated based on two-dimensional aerodynamic parameters determined by sectional model wind tunnel tests. Before converting such test results into a prototype flexible structure, many complicated factors, such as the spanwise correlation of aerodynamic force and vibration mode shape, should be considered. In this study, wind tunnel tests of a 5:1 rectangular taut strip model and its sectional model with the same geometry were first conducted to analyze the relationship between the VIV amplitude of the flexible structure and sectional model. The results showed that the taut strip model sustained an approximately 15% higher VIV amplitude than the sectional model, indicating that the VIV amplitude could be underestimated if the sectional model test results were directly used. Next, based on the identified spanwise correlation function of the 5:1 rectangular cylinder, several existing VIV response estimation approaches based on Scanlan's semi-empirical vortex-induced force (VIF) model were examined and compared. Finally, an improved approach was proposed by which the correlation coefficients based on the partial spanwise correlation theory could be approximated with more comprehensive consideration of the spanwise correlation, allowing for a more accurate evaluation of the VIV amplitude for flexible structures.

Design of dynamic absorbers to control the flexural resonant vibration of structures characterized by multiple natural modes

Dynamic Vibration Absorber (DVA) design methods based on one vibration mode have poor performance on controlling the resonant vibrations of complex flexible structures. A mathematical formulation for the DVA design which is suitable for suppressing the structural vibration characterized by multiple natural modes is proposed. An Excitation-Dependent Representative Basis (EDRB) for the structural vibration response characterized by multiple natural modes is derived via the dimensional reduction method proposed in modal space, based on which the DVA design method for one vibration mode can be directly used for the case when the vibration of structures is characterized by multiple natural modes. A new relationship between the optimal design of DVAs on a single-degree-of-freedom system and that on a single-mode system is also established, which enables the fixed-points theory or min-max optimization method to be directly applied on the DVA design for complex flexible structures with the derived EDRB. Numerical simulation on a simply-supported square plate is firstly conducted to verify the proposed method. Results show that the proposed method has better performance on vibration suppression than the existing method when the structural vibration is characterized by natural modes associated with the same natural frequency. The application on a complex fairing structure is presented to prove that the proposed method can effectively control the resonant vibrations of complex flexible structures with only one optimized DVA.

Efficient excitation of transverse vibrational modes using improved configurations of PFCs connected to an isotropic plate

In this work, we investigate efficient excitations of transverse (out-of-plane) vibrations of isotropic rectangular plates using piezoelectric fiber composites (PFCs) by experimental measurement. Four PFCs are separately bonded on a rectangular plate with four configured electrode connections to excite transverse vibration of the plate. The proposed configurations of the PFCs, including placements and electrode connections, are inspired by efficient transverse excitations of piezoelectric rectangular plates, whose mode shapes can be divided into four groups and whose electromechanical coupling efficiency can be largely improved by designs of partial electrodes. To visually demonstrate the excitation efficiency, an amplitude-fluctuation electronic speckle pattern interferometry (AF-ESPI) measurement technique is set up to obtain full-field transverse mode shapes. Other than AF-ESPI, a laser Doppler vibrometer (LDV) displacement sensing system is employed to investigate the excitation performances of the PFCs according to resonant frequencies with emphasis on the influences of the measured nodal lines of the plate. The experimental results presented in this study indicate that the excitation efficiency of the transverse vibrations in flexible structures can be improved by bonding distributed PFCs with configured electrode connections. In addition, we show that the vibrations of isotropic rectangular plates can be related to those of piezoelectric rectangular plates, from the experimental modal excitation point of view.

Modelling of coupled cross-flow and in-line vortex-induced vibrations of flexible cylindrical structures. Part I: model description and validation

This paper is first of the two papers dealing with the nonlinear modelling and investigation of coupled cross-flow and in-line vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of flexible cylindrical structures. As a continuation of the previous work (Qu and Metrikine in Ocean Eng 196:106732, 2020) where a new single wake oscillator model was proposed and studied for VIVs of rigid cylinders, the present paper focuses on applying it to flexible cylinders. In this paper, the structure is modelled as an extensible Euler–Bernoulli beam and its 3D nonlinear coupling motion is described in the absolute coordinate system. The single van der Pol wake oscillator model with nonlinear coupling to the in-line motion of the structure, in addition to the classic linear cross-flow motion coupling, is uniformly distributed along the structure to model the hydrodynamic force acting on it. The finite element method has been applied to solve the dynamics of the coupled system, and the experiments of the VIV of a top-tensioned straight riser subjected to a step flow have been taken for the validation of the model. The model has been shown to be able to capture most features of VIVs of flexible cylinders, and a good agreement between the simulation results and the experimental measurements has been observed with regard to the amplitude, frequency and excited mode of both cross-flow and in-line vibrations, as well as the mean in-line deflection due to the amplified in-line force. While it is conventionally expected that the VIV of a flexible cylinder subjected to a uniform flow is dominated by a single frequency, a multi-frequency response is observed in the simulation results over the range of flow velocities through which the transition of the dominant mode of vibration occurs.

Analysis and Experiment of Fluid-structure Coupled Vibration of MFC-actuated Flexible Structure Immersed in Viscous Fluids

Analysis and Experiment of Fluid-structure Coupled Vibration of MFC-actuated Flexible Structure Immersed in Viscous Fluids

Distributed vibration control for large-scale flexible space structure improved by fuzzy logic system

To deal with the problem of vibration control for large-scale flexible space structure, an detailed distributed vibration control scheme with the switch control method and PD control method improved by fuzzy logic system is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the dynamic model, the actuator model and the multi-subsystem model of a large-scale flexible space structure are established. Then, a distributed control scheme is designed, which installs multiple groups of piezoelectric actuators on the support truss. The traditional methods and the improved method based on fuzzy logic system are discussed. Through ADAMS-MATLAB co-simulation platform, the effectiveness of the distributed control to suppress the vibration of large-scale flexible space structure in both Y and Z directions is verified. The simulation results show that the control precision by the improved method based on fuzzy logic system is better than traditional methods, and the control spillover is not easy to be caused.