Active nonlinear vibration absorber design for flexible structures

Abstract

An active Vibration Clamping Absorber (VCA) technique designed for vibration suppression in flexible structures is proposed and investigated in this paper. The technique uses a Quadratic-Modal-Positive-Position-Feedback strategy to design a simple second-order nonlinear controller that is capable of suppressing structural vibrations at various resonances. The VCA can effectively transfer vibration energy from the main structure to another sacrificial absorber so that large amplitude vibrations in the main structure can be clamped within tolerable limits. The effectiveness of the VCA design is demonstrated through single-mode and multiple-mode control on a flexible cantilever beam system using one sensor/actuator pair. The simulation and experimental results reveal that the proposed design can be used for real-time control of vibration in large flexible structures.