Comparison of adaptive algorithms for the control of tonal disturbances in mechanical systems

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the performance of adaptive control algorithms designed to reduce the vibration of mechanical systems excited by a harmonic disturbance. The mechanical system consists of a mass suspended on a spring and a damper. The system is equipped with a force actuator in parallel with the suspension. The control signal driving the actuator is generated by adjusting the amplitude and phase of a sinusoidal reference signal at the same frequency as the excitation. An adaptive feedforward control algorithm is used to adapt the amplitude and phase of the control signal, to minimise the mean square velocity of the mass. Two adaptation strategies are considered in which the control signal is either updated after each period of the oscillation or at every time sample. The first strategy is traditionally used in vibration control in helicopters for example; the second strategy is normally referred to as the filtered-x least mean square algorithm and is often used to control engine noise in cars. The two adaptation strategies are compared through a parametric study, which investigates the influence of the properties of both the mechanical system and the control system on the convergence speed of the two algorithms