An efficient model of an equipment loaded panel for active control design studies

An effective investigation of alternative control strategies for the reduction of vibration levels in satellite structures requires realistic, yet efficient, structural models to simulate the dynamics of the system. These models should include the effects of the sources, receivers, supporting structure, sensors, and actuators. In this paper, a modeling technique which meets these requirements is developed and some active control strategies are briefly investigated. The particular subject of investigation is an equipment-loaded panel and the equations of motion are derived using the Lagrange-Rayleigh-Ritz (LRR) approach. The various pieces of equipment on the panel are mounted on active or passive suspensions, and resonators are used to represent the internal dynamics of the mounted equipment. Control of the panel, which transmits vibrations from sources to receivers, is by means of piezoelectric patches and the excitation consists of dynamic loads acting on the equipment enclosures and/or directly on the panel. The control objective is to minimize the displacement at an arbitrary output location. The LRR model developed is verified against one produced by using the finite-element method. Finally, some initial controller design studies are undertaken to investigate and compare the effectiveness of different control strategies (e.g., minimization at the source, along the vibration path, or at the receiver).