Magnetic Actuators and Suspension for Space Vibration Control

The research on microgravity vibration isolation performed at the University of Virginia is summarized. This research on microgravity vibration isolation was focused in three areas: (1) the development of new actuators for use in microgravity isolation; (2) the design of controllers for multiple-degree-of-freedom active isolation; and (3) the construction of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals. Described are the design and testing of a large stroke linear actuator; the conceptual design and analysis of a redundant coarse-fine six-degree-of-freedom actuator; an investigation of the control issues of active microgravity isolation; a methodology for the design of multiple-degree-of-freedom isolation control systems using modern control theory; and the design and testing of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals

Dynamic analysis and active control of lattice structures

This thesis presents an investigation of the factors controlling the performance of two forms of active vibration control applied to lattice structures, such as those used for space applications. The structure considered is based on a lattice structure assembled by NASA in 1984. It consists of a satellite boom with 93 aluminium members connected rigidly through 33 spherical joints. The structure has two distinct forms of motion which are categorized in terms of short and long wavelength modes. The short wavelength modes occurs when the length of the individual members is a multiple of half wavelength of bending waves. The second category, named long wavelength modes occur when the length of the whole structure is a multiple of half wavelength of waves propagating by longitudinal motion in the structure. Simple expressions are derived to identify the factors that control the frequency bands where short and long wavelength modes occur. It is possible to alter the dynamic behaviour of the system by changing some of the factors in these expressions and thus study the active and passive control of vibration in a variety of such structures. The two strategies of active control considered in the thesis are feedforward control and integral force feedback control. Feedforward control usually requires deterministic forms of disturbance sources while feedback control can be applied to random disturbances. It has been found that short wavelength modes can reduce the performance in the feedback control strategy, while the results of feedforward control are not affected so much. To support this analysis, the energy dissipation and power flow mechanisms in the structure are studied. The results in this thesis are based on numerical simulations and experimental tests which have been used to validate the mathematical model of the structure

POGO Instabilities Suppression Evaluation

A dynamic (frequency response) analysis was made of a liquid oxygen feed system consisting of a low-speed inducer, a high-speed main pump and a positive displacement pulser utilized for simulating pogo induced pressure oscillations. Based on the results of the analysis, an active control system for suppression of pulser generated pressure oscillations was designed, fabricated and tested. The test results verified that the suppressor was effective in attenuating the generated pressure oscillations over the frequency range from 10 to 30 Hz

Piezoceramic Actuator Placement for Acoustic Control of Panels

Optimum placement of multiple traditional piezoceramic actuators is determined for active structural acoustic control of flat panels. The structural acoustic response is determined using acoustic radiation filters and structural surface vibration characteristics. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control is utilized to determine the optimum state feedback gain for active structural acoustic control. The optimum actuator location is determined by minimizing the structural acoustic radiated noise using a modified genetic algorithm. Experimental tests are conducted and compared to analytical results. Anisotropic piezoceramic actuators exhibit enhanced performance when compared to traditional isotropic piezoceramic actuators. As a result of the inherent isotropy, these advanced actuators develop strain along the principal material axis. The orientation of anisotropic actuators is investigated on the effect of structural vibration and acoustic control of curved and flat panels. A fully coupled shallow shell finite element formulation is developed to include anisotropic piezoceramic actuators for shell structures

SPECIFIED MOTION AND FEEDBACK CONTROL OF ENGINEERING STRUCTURES WITH DISTRIBUTED SENSORS AND ACTUATORS

This dissertation addresses the control of flexible structures using distributed sensors and actuators. The objective to determine the required distributed actuation inputs such that the desired output is obtained. Two interrelated facets of this problem are considered. First, we develop a dynamic-inversion solution method for determining the distributed actuation inputs, as a function of time, that yield a specified motion. The solution is shown to be useful for intelligent structure design, in particular, for sizing actuators and choosing their placement. Secondly, we develop a new feedback control method, which is based on dynamic inversion. In particular, filtered dynamic inversion combines dynamic inversion with a low-pass filter, resulting in a high-parameter-stabilizing controller, where the parameter gain is the filter cutoff frequency. For sufficiently large parameter gain, the controller stabilizes the closed-loop system and makes the L2-gain of the performance arbitrarily small, despite unknown-and-unmeasured disturbances. The controller is considered for both linear and nonlinear structural models

ANALYSIS AND SIMULATION OF ACTIVE VIBRATION DAMPENING USING CON-STRAINED MODAL SPACE OPTIMAL CONTROL APPROACH

The active vibration attenuation of linearly elastic structures modeled by the finite element method, with a possibly large number of degrees of freedom, is considered. The approach, formulated in modal space, applies mathematical optimization to obtain exact solutions to systems that may involve any number of modes to be controlled by an equal or smaller number of discrete actuators. Such systems are under-actuated and generally involve second-order non-holonomic constraints that impose limitations on the dynamically admissible motions that the system can be made to follow. The approach presented in this thesis has value as a tool for the designing and analyzing active vibration attenuation in structures under idealized conditions, but does not replace traditional control approaches are necessary for practical implementation of such systems. The optimal attenuation of the structure subject to any initial disturbance is obtained by applying Pontryagin’s principle to solve for the minimum solution to a quadratic performance index subject to additional under-actuated constraints that are satisfied by the introduction of time-dependant Lagrange multipliers. The optimality conditions are derived in a compact form and solved by applying symbolic differential operators. The approach uses commercial finite element analysis software and symbolic mathematical software to obtain the optimal actuation forces required by each discrete actuator and the trajectory that the system will undergo. The approach, which is called the constrained modal space optimal control method involves three primary stages in the solution process. The first stage –the structural stage – involves the transformation of any system modeled by finite elements into a sufficient number of modal variables and selection of the number and positioning of potential actuator locations. In this stage any problems with poor controllability can be quickly assessed and mitigated prior to proceeding with the next solution stage – the control stage. In the control stage the optimal control problem is solved and all unknown system forces and trajectories are obtained. System gains for the closed loop system can also be obtained in this stage. In the third stage – the verification stage – the actuation forces obtained in the control stage are tested on a transient time-integrated finite element model to evaluate if the system will respond as expected. Any potential spillover effects on higher modes of vibration not considered in the control can be observed in the verification stage

Control Of Flexible Structures-2 (COFS-2) flight control, structure and gimbal system interaction study

The second Control Of Flexible Structures Flight Experiment (COFS-2) includes a long mast as in the first flight experiment, but with the Langley 15-m hoop column antenna attached via a gimbal system to the top of the mast. The mast is to be mounted in the Space Shuttle cargo bay. The servo-driven gimbal system could be used to point the antenna relative to the mast. The dynamic interaction of the Shuttle Orbiter/COFS-2 system with the Orbiter on-orbit Flight Control System (FCS) and the gimbal pointing control system has been studied using analysis and simulation. The Orbiter pointing requirements have been assessed for their impact on allowable free drift time for COFS experiments. Three fixed antenna configurations were investigated. Also simulated was Orbiter attitude control behavior with active vernier jets during antenna slewing. The effect of experiment mast dampers was included. Control system stability and performance and loads on various portions of the COFS-2 structure were investigated. The study indicates possible undesirable interaction between the Orbiter FCS and the flexible, articulated COFS-2 mast/antenna system, even when restricted to vernier reaction jets