Use of modal energy transfer as a new damping device with controllable bandwidth

This paper presents a new design of nonlinear dynamic absorber (NDA) using the phenomenon of modal energy transfer between the symmetric mode and the anti-symmetric mode of a curved beam. It can reduce the resonance vibration of a primary structure with a controllable operational frequency range. The energy transfer is initiated by an autoparametric vibration and the excitation force required is lowest when the ratio of the resonance frequencies of the first symmetric mode (ω₁) and first anti-symmetric mode (ω₂) is close to 2.The resonance frequency of the first anti-symmetric mode (ω₂) can be altered to control the operational frequency range. The autoparametric vibration response can be used to create an energy-dissipative region with a controllable bandwidth. It is also possible to create a non-dissipative region in between two dissipative regions. This is useful for providing damping for a conventional dynamic absorber without adding high damping material. The damping is due to the dissipation of energy to anti-symmetric mode. Numerical calculations indicate that the resonance vibration of a primary structure can be successfully reduced using this approach. The results are verified with experimental data.     

Dynamics modelling of beams with shunted piezoelectric elements

General modelling of a resonant shunting damper has been made from piezoelectric sensor/actuator equations. It is found that an additional damping, which is augmented to a system, is generated by the shunt damping effect. The transfer function of the tuned electrical absorber is derived for both series and parallel shunt circuit. The governing equations and associated boundary conditions are derived using Hamilton's principle. The shunt voltage equation is also derived from the charge generated in PZT due to beam vibration. The frequency response function of the obtained mathematical model is compared with that of the tuned electrical absorber and experimental work. The vibration amplitude is reduced about 15 dB at targeted second mode frequency.     

Multifunctional design of inertially-actuated velocity feedback controllers

The vibration of a structure can be controlled using either a passive tuned mass damper or using an active vibration control system. In this paper, the design of a multifunctional system is discussed, which uses an inertial actuator as both a tuned mass damper and as an element in a velocity feedback control loop. The natural frequency of the actuator would normally need to be well below that of the structure under control to give a stable velocity feedback controller, whereas it needs to be close to the natural frequency of a dominant structural resonance to act as an effective tuned mass damper. A compensator is used in the feedback controller here to allow stable feedback operation even when the actuator natural frequency is close to that of a structural mode. A practical example of such a compensator is described for a small inertial actuator, which is then used to actively control the vibrations both on a panel and on a beam. The influence of the actuator as a passive tuned mass damper can be clearly seen before the feedback loop is closed, and broadband damping is then additionally achieved by closing the velocity feedback loop.     

Vibration suppression of a cantilever beam using magnetically tuned-mass-damper

Eddy currents are induced by the movement of a conductor through a stationary magnetic field or a time varying magnetic field through a stationary conductor. These currents circulate in the conductive material and are dissipated, causing a repulsive force between the magnet and the conductor. These electromagnetic forces can be used to suppress the vibrations of a flexible structure. A tuned mass damper is a device mounted in structures to reduce the amplitude of mechanical vibrations and is one of the effective vibration suppression methods. In the present study, an improved concept of this tuned mass damper for the vibration suppression of structures is introduced. This concept consists of the classical tuned mass damper and an eddy current damping. The important advantages of this magnetically tuned mass damper are that it is relatively simple to apply, it does not require any electronic devices and external power, and it is effective on the vibration suppression. The proposed concept is designed for a cantilever beam and the analytical studies on the eddy current damping and its effects on the vibration suppression. To show the effectiveness of the proposed concept and verify the eddy current damping model, experiments on a cantilever beam are performed. It is found that the proposed concept could significantly increase the damping effect of the tuned mass damper even if not adequately tuned.     

Amplitude reduction of parametric resonance by dynamic vibration absorber based on quadratic nonlinear coupling

The paper proposes an amplitude reduction method for parametric resonance with a new type of dynamic vibration absorber utilizing quadratic nonlinear coupling. A main system with asymmetric nonlinear restoring force and harmonic excitation causes parametric resonance in the system. In contrast with autoparametric vibration absorber, the natural frequency of the vibration absorber is tuned to be in the neighborhood of twice that of the main system. For such a vibration absorber, we investigate the effect on the amplitude reduction for a parametrically excited main system. Analytical results using the method of multiple scales show that the amplitude of parametric resonance is reduced by the effect of the vibration absorber. The experimental results by a simple apparatus indicate that the parametric resonance is stabilized by the effects of both vibration absorber and Coulomb friction of the main system. Moreover, numerical results considering the Coulomb friction of the main system show that the amplitude of parametric resonance becomes close to zero by the proposed vibration absorber.     

Tuned mass absorber on a flexible structure

The classic design of a tuned mass absorber is based on a simple two-mass analogy in which the tuned mass is connected to the structural mass with a spring and a viscous damper. In a flexible multi-degree-of-freedom structure the tuned mass absorber is typically introduced to provide damping of a specific mode. The motion of the point of attachment of the tuned mass absorber to the structure has not only a contribution from the targeted mode, but also a background contribution from other non-resonant modes. Similarly, the force provided by the tuned mass absorber is distributed between the targeted mode and the background modes. It is demonstrated how this effect can be included via a non-dimensional dynamic background flexibility coefficient, extracted from a classic modal analysis for the particular frequency of the selected mode. An explicit calibration procedure is developed starting with the desired maximum amplification, from which the device damper, mass and stiffness are determined, accounting for the background flexibility. Examples demonstrate the influence of the flexibility effect and the efficiency of the proposed procedure.     

Optimal active absorber with internal state feedback for controlling resonant and transient vibration

An active, standalone vibration absorber utilizing the state feedback taken from the absorber mass is proposed. Expressions of the optimum absorber parameters are obtained both by optimizing the Η_∞ norm of the frequency response function. For improved transient response featuring low peak response and fast attenuation, the design procedure utilizes the mode equalization followed by the maximization of the damping. An interesting feature of the proposed absorber is that the performance of the absorber does not require having its natural frequency close to the natural frequency of the primary system as is generally the case for tuned passive absorbers or other active and semi-active tuned vibration absorbers. In fact, the performance of the proposed system can be progressively enhanced by increasing the absorber frequency. Compared to the optimum passive absorber, the optimal active absorber can yield wider bandwidth of operation around the natural frequency of the primary system and lower frequency response within the suppression band. The active absorber also offers better transient response compared to the passive absorber both optimized for the best transient responses. The efficacy of the absorber is analyzed both for a single-degree-of-freedom and beam like primary structure.     

Suppression of the primary resonance vibrations of a forced nonlinear system using a dynamic vibration absorber

In a single degree-of-freedom weakly nonlinear oscillator subjected to periodic external excitation, a small-amplitude excitation may produce a relatively large-amplitude response under primary resonance conditions. Jump and hysteresis phenomena that result from saddle-node bifurcations may occur in the steady-state response of the forced nonlinear oscillator. A simple mass-spring-damper vibration absorber is thus employed to suppress the nonlinear vibrations of the forced nonlinear oscillator for the primary resonance conditions. The values of the spring stiffness and mass of the vibration absorber are significantly lower than their counterpart of the forced nonlinear oscillator. Vibrational energy of the forced nonlinear oscillator is transferred to the attached light mass through linked spring and damper. As a result, the nonlinear vibrations of the forced oscillator are greatly reduced and the vibrations of the absorber are significant. The method of multiple scales is used to obtain the averaged equations that determine the amplitude and phases of the first-order approximate solutions to primary resonance vibrations of the forced nonlinear oscillator. Illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness of the dynamic vibration absorber for suppressing primary resonance vibrations. The effects of the linked spring and damper and the attached mass on the reduction of nonlinear vibrations are studied with the help of frequency response curves, the attenuation ratio of response amplitude and the desensitisation ratio of the critical amplitude of excitation.     

Nonlinear vibration of a curved beam under uniform base harmonic excitation with quadratic and cubic nonlinearities

This paper presents nonlinear vibration analysis of a curved beam subject to uniform base harmonic excitation with both quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. The Galerkin method is employed to discretize the governing equations. A high-dimensional model that can take nonlinear model coupling into account is derived, and the incremental harmonic balance (IHB) method is employed to obtain the steady-state response of the curved beam. The cases investigated include softening stiffness, hardening stiffness and modal energy transfer. The stability of the periodic solutions for given parameters is determined by the multi-variable Floquet theory using Hsu's method. Particular attention is paid to the anti-symmetric response with and without excitation, as the excitation frequency is close to the first and third natural frequencies of the system. The results obtained with the IHB method compare very well with those obtained via numerical integration.     

Nonlinear vibration of micromachined asymmetric resonators

In this paper, the nonlinear dynamics of a beam-type resonant structure due to stretching of the beam is addressed. The resonant beam is excited by attached electrostatic comb-drive actuators. This structure is modeled as a thin beam-lumped mass system, in which an initial axial force is exerted to the beam. This axial force may have different origins, e.g., residual stress due to micro-machining. The governing equations of motion are derived using the mode summation method, generalized orthogonality condition, and multiple scales method for both free and forced vibrations. The effects of the initial axial force, modal damping of the beam, the location, mass, and rotary inertia of the lumped mass on the free and forced vibration of the resonator are investigated. For the case of the forced vibration, the primary resonance of the first mode is investigated. It has been shown that there are certain combinations of the model parameters depicting a remarkable dynamic behavior, in which the second to first resonance frequencies ratio is close to three. These particular cases result in the internal resonance between the first and second modes. This phenomenon is investigated in detail.     

H-infinity optimization of a variant design of the dynamic vibration absorber—Revisited and new results

The H_∞ optimum parameters of a dynamic vibration absorber (DVA) with ground-support are derived to minimize the resonant vibration amplitude of a single degree-of-freedom (sdof) system under harmonic force excitation. The optimum parameters which are derived based on the classical fixed-points theory and reported in literature for this non-traditional DVA are shown to be not leading to the minimum resonant vibration amplitude of the controlled mass. A new procedure is proposed for the H_∞ optimization of such a dynamic vibration absorber. A new set of optimum tuning frequency and damping of the absorber is derived, thereby resulting in lower maximum amplitude responses than those reported in the literature. The proposed optimized variant DVA is also compared to a ground-hooked damper of the same damping capacity of the damper in the DVA. It is proved that the proposed optimized DVA has better suppression of the resonant vibration amplitude of the controlled system than both the traditional DVA and also the ground-hooked damper if the proposed design procedure of the variant DVA is followed.     

Resonant vibration control of rotating beams

Rotating structures, like e.g. wind turbine blades, may be prone to vibrations associated with particular modes of vibration. It is demonstrated, how this type of vibrations can be reduced by using a collocated sensor-actuator system, governed by a resonant controller. The theory is here demonstrated by an active strut, connecting two cross-sections of a rotating beam. The structure is modeled by beam elements in a rotating frame of reference following the beam. The geometric stiffness is derived in a compact form from an initial stress formulation in terms of section forces and moments. The stiffness, and thereby the natural frequencies, of the beam depend on the rotation speed and the controller is tuned to current rotation speed to match the resonance frequency of the selected mode. It is demonstrated that resonant control leads to introduction of the intended level of damping in the selected mode and, with good modal connectivity, only very limited modal spill-over is generated. The controller acts by resonance and therefore has only a moderate energy consumption, and successfully reduces modal vibrations at the resonance frequency.     

Development of a new damper to reduce resonant vibrations in lightweight steel joist floors

Floor vibrations annoying to humans often occur in lightweight constructions. A number of methods to solve the problem of resonant vibrations are reported in the literature. Tuned mass damper, semi-active tuned vibration absorber and active control system are all examples of existing methods. A new method has been tested in laboratory environment on a prefabricated floor containing a resilient ceiling with a size up to 6.8×4.8 m². The method takes advantage of small pieces of visco-elastic material connected between the ceiling joists and the primary beams. A finite element model is used to calculate the correct amount of visco-elastic material. The new damper is especially effective in damping mode shapes where the ceiling oscillates out of phase relative to the floor but shows improvements for other mode shapes as well.     

On the railway track dynamics with rail vibration absorber for noise reduction

A promising means to increase the decay rate of vibration along the rail is using a rail absorber for noise reduction. Compound track models with the tuned rail absorber are developed for investigation of the performance of the absorber on vibration reduction. Through analysis of the track dynamics with the rail absorber some guidelines are given on selection of the types and parameters for the rail absorber. It is found that a large active mass used in the absorber is beneficial to increase the decay rate of rail vibration. The effectiveness of the piecewise continuous absorber is moderate compared with the discrete absorber installed in the middle of sleeper span or at a sleeper. The most effective installation position for the discrete absorber is in the middle of sleeper span. Over high or over low loss factor of the damping material used in the absorber may degrade the performance on vibration reduction.     

Active-passive vibration absorber of beam-cart-seesaw system with piezoelectric transducers

In contrast with fully controllable systems, a super articulated mechanical system (SAMS) is a controlled underactuated mechanical system in which the dimensions of the configuration space exceed the dimensions of the control input space. The objectives of the research are to develop a novel SAMS model which is called beam-cart-seesaw system, and renovate a novel approach for achieving a high performance active-passive piezoelectric vibration absorber for such system. The system consists of two mobile carts, which are coupled via rack and pinion mechanics to two parallel tracks mounted on pneumatic rodless cylinders. One cart carries an elastic beam, and the other cart acts as a counterbalance. One adjustable counterweight mass is also installed underneath the seesaw to serve as a passive damping mechanism to absorb impact and shock energy. The motion and control of a Bernoulli-Euler beam subjected to the modified cart/seesaw system are analyzed first. Moreover, gray relational grade is utilized to investigate the sensitivity of tuning the active proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller to achieve desired vibration suppression performance. Consequently, it is shown that the active-passive vibration absorber can not only provide passive damping, but can also enhance the active action authority. The proposed software/hardware platform can also be profitable for the standardization of laboratory equipment, as well as for the development of entertainment tools.     

Suppression of random vibration in flexible structures using a hybrid vibration absorber

A design method is proposed to suppress stationary random vibration in flexible structures using a hybrid vibration absorber (HVA). While the traditional vibration absorber can damp down the vibration mainly at the pre-tuned mode of the primary structure, active damping is generated by the proposed HVA to damp down all resonant modes of interest of the vibrating structure and the spatial average mean square motion of the vibrating structure can be minimized. Only one absorber and one feedback signal are required to achieve global vibration suppression of a flexible structure under stationary random excitation. A special pole-placement controller is designed such that all vibration modes of the flexible structures become critically damped. It is proved analytically that the proposed HVA damps the vibration of the entire structure instead of just the attachment point of the absorber. The proposed optimized HVA is tested on a beam structure and it shows a superior performance on global suppression of broadband vibration in comparison to other published designs of passive and hybrid vibration absorbers.     

Dynamic vibration absorbers for vibration control within a frequency band

The use of dynamic vibration absorbers to control the vibration of a structure in both narrow and broadbands is discussed in this paper. As a benchmark problem, a plate incorporating multiple vibration absorbers is formulated, leading to an analytical solution when the number of absorbers yields one. Using this analytical solution, control mechanisms of the vibration absorber in different frequency bandwidths are studied; the coupling properties due to the introduction of the absorber into the host structure are analyzed; and the control performance of the absorber in different control bandwidths is examined with respect to its damping and location. It is found that the interaction between the plate and the absorber by means of the reaction force from the absorber plays a dominant role in a narrow band control, while in a relatively broadband control the dissipation by the absorber damping governs the control performance. When control bandwidth further enlarges, the optimal locations of the absorbers are not only affected by the targeted mode, but also by the other plate modes. These locations need to be determined after establishing a trade-off between the targeted mode and other modes involved in the coupling. Finally, numerical findings are assessed based on a simply-supported plate and a fair agreement between the predicted and measured results is obtained.     

Design optimization of a damped hybrid vibration absorber

In this article, the H_∞ optimization design of a hybrid vibration absorber (HVA), including both passive and active elements, for the minimization of the resonant vibration amplitude of a single degree-of-freedom (sdof) vibrating structure is derived by using the fixed-points theory. The optimum tuning parameters are the feedback gain, the tuning frequency, damping and mass ratios of the absorber. The effects of these parameters on the vibration reduction of the primary structure are revealed based on the analytical model. Design parameters of both passive and active elements of the HVA are optimized for the minimization of the resonant vibration amplitude of the primary system. One of the inherent limitations of the traditional passive vibration absorber is that its vibration absorption is low if the mass ratio between the absorber mass and the mass of the primary structure is low. The proposed HVA overcomes this limitation and provides very good vibration reduction performance even at a low mass ratio. The proposed optimized HVA is compared to a recently published HVA designed for similar propose and it shows that the present design requires less energy for the active element of the HVA than the compared design.     

动力吸振器中库仑阻尼对吸振性能的影响

研究了动力吸振器中库仑阻尼(干摩擦)对吸振性能的影响。给出了库仑摩擦模型,在考虑了吸振器中的库仑阻尼的情况下,分析了库仑阻尼引起的主振动系统与附加质量块的2种相对运动状态(滑移和粘滞)以及它们存在和转换的条件,讨论了因库仑阻尼引起的吸振器自由度冻结现象;用Simulink仿真工具对非线性吸振器进行了数值仿真,研究了谐波和白噪声激励下库仑阻尼对吸振器吸振性能的影响以及库仑阻尼与线性阻尼的等效问题。结果显示:弱激励条件下,非线性吸振器减弱吸振效果,强激励条件下增强吸振效果。     

On the functional form of a nonlinear vibration absorber

Due to the frequency-energy dependence of nonlinear oscillations, nonlinear dynamical absorbers present interesting properties for mitigating unwanted vibrations in mechanical systems. Unlike the tuned mass damper, the functional form of a nonlinear absorber is not known a priori and must be determined. This short note addresses this issue when a light-weight nonlinear absorber is attached to a nonlinear primary structure. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the determination of an adequate functional form may be directly linked to the frequency-energy dependence of the primary structure.