Vibration attenuation by mass redistribution

A nontraditional approach for active structural vibration attenuation was proposed using mass redistribution. The focus was on pendulum structures where the objective was to examine the effectiveness of mass reconfiguration along or within a structure to attenuate its vibrational energy. The mechanics associated with a translating mass along a rotating structure give rise to a Coriolis inertia force which either opposes or increases angular oscillations, thereby producing positive or negative damping, respectively. A strategy of cycling the mass to maximize attenuation and minimize amplification required the mass be moved at twice the frequency of the structural vibrations and be properly coordinated with the angular oscillations. The desired coordination involved moving the mass away from the pivot as the pendulum nears its vertical position and moving the mass towards the pivot when the pendulum nears its maximum angular excursion. System mass reconfiguration was analyzed by studying various mass displacement profiles including sinusoidal, piece-wise constant velocity and modified proportional and derivative action patterns. These strategies were optimized for various time intervals to maximize the rate of energy attenuation or minimize the final energy state. For small amplitude oscillations with sinusoidal mass motion, the dynamic behavior was modeled by Mathieu-Hill equations to explain the beating phenomenon that occurred when the frequency of the mass motion remained constant. Several control systems were designed to generate aforementioned mass reconfiguration profiles. The methodologies included human operator, modified proportional and derivative action, knowledge or rule based and artificial neural network controllers. The human operator system improved with experience and was the most effective. Other systems depended on the chosen parameterization or the implementation of self-adjusting parameters. Several unique tools were developed during the course of this research, as referenced herein

IMPROVING SPRINGBOARD DIVING THROUGH BIOMECHANICAL ANALYSES AND KNOWLEDGE BASED EXPERT SYSTEM APPLICATION

Springboard diving, like most sports, optimizes certain aspects of human performance through skill development. To assist with achieving proficiency in the execution of a skill, a systematic method of evaluating a· skill to detect errors and to deduce. corrections is required. The purpose of this thesis was to study such skill assessment for forward, nontwisting dives, from both a quantitative and qualitative perspective. Research focussing on the quantitative aspect of the diver-springboard system was based on applied mechanics. A mathematical model was developed to simulate the vertical component of springboard-diver motion. The model was designed to incorporate learned movement skills and permitted an evaluation of the effects of varying a given parameter on the overall performance. Specifically, by altering the timing of execution of these sub-skills, the height achieved by the diver during the flight phase can be maximized. The qualitative analysis focused on emulating coaching strategies relating to skill assessment. Both the determination of the attributing cause of a major performance error and suggestions for correcting this error were accomplished by applying knowledge based expert system technology. The resulting system was a springboard diving skill analysis program. It produced appropriate and valuable advice in a user acceptable format. These results suggest that application of knowledge based expert system technology to the skill assessment aspect of coaching is a viable method for disseminating coaching expertise