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Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II

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A special issue of Actuators (ISSN 2076-0825). This special issue belongs to the section "Control Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2024) | Viewed by 14317

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Dr. Emiliano Pereira González

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Guest Editor

Department of Signal Processing and Communications, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
Interests: vibration control; mainly focused on civil engineering and robotics applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Sumeet S. Aphale

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
Interests: precision mechatronics and robotics; control of dynamical systems; vibration damping and isolation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Low vibration levels are required in multiple and diverse applications. These applications can be viewed from the vibration and isolation damping point of view. Vibration damping may be required in several applications, such as precise positioning or trajectory tracking in applications such as robotics or nanopositioners. Vibration damping is also important to solve vibration serviceability issues in civil structures. Vibration Isolation is demanded in aerospace and defense applications, reducing energy consumption or stabilizing payloads. Isolation techniques are also useful when extremely low vibration levels are required, such as disk media production or beam alignment applications.

Contributions from all fields related to actuators and dampers are welcome in this Special Issue, particularly the following:

Passive, semi-active, and active actuators used in damping and isolation applications;
Practical implementation issues of actuators in damping and isolation applications;
Optimization of isolation and damping vibration systems;
Vibration control in civil structures induced by wind, earthquakes, and humans;
Trajectory tracking in nanopositioner applications;
Robotics applications with flexibility in links or joints;
Vibration isolation in aerospace and defense applications;
Vibration isolation in extremely low vibration level applications.

Dr. Emiliano Pereira González
Dr. Sumeet S. Aphale
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Actuators is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

vibration damping
vibration isolation
precise positioning
trajectory tracking
alignment
inertial mass actuators
tuned mass damper
tuned liquid damper
electromagnetic damper
optimal design

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 7615 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Bidirectional Multi-Spectral Vibration Control: Insights from Automotive Engine Mounting Systems in Two-Dimensional Structures with a Damaged Vertical Active Element

by Dongwoo Hong, Hojoon Moon and Byeongil Kim

Actuators 2024, 13(5), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13050171 - 01 May 2024

Viewed by 174

Abstract

Active mounting systems have become more prevalent in recent years to effectively mitigate structure-induced vibration across the automobile chassis. This trend is particularly evident in engine mounts. Considerable research has been dedicated to this approach owing to its potential to enhance the quietness and travel comfort of automobiles. However, prior research has concentrated on a limited spectrum of specific vibrations and noise control or has been restricted to vertical vibration control. This article describes the modeling, analysis, and control of a source structure employing a multidirectional active mounting system designed to closely simulate the position and direction of an actual automobile engine mount. A piezoelectric stack actuator is connected in series to an elastic (rubber) mount to form an active mount. The calculation of the secondary force required for each active mount is achieved through the application of harmonic excitation forces. The control signal can also reduce vibrations caused by destructive interference with the input signal. Furthermore, horizontal oscillations can be mitigated by manipulating the parameters via dynamic interconnections of the source structure. We specifically examined the level of vibration reduction performance in the absence of a vertical active element operation and determined whether the control is feasible. Simulation outcomes demonstrate that this active mount, which operates in both the vertical and horizontal directions, effectively mitigates excitation vibrations. Furthermore, a simulation was conducted to mitigate the vibrations caused by complex signals (AM and FM signals) and noise. This was achieved by monitoring the system response using an adaptive filter NLMS algorithm. Adaptive filter simulations demonstrate that the control efficacy degrades in response to complex signals and noise, although the overall relaxation trend remains unchanged. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

15 pages, 6302 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A New Rotary Magnetorheological Damper for a Semi-Active Suspension System of Low-Floor Vehicles

by Yu-Jin Park, Byung-Hyuk Kang and Seung-Bok Choi

Actuators 2024, 13(4), 155; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13040155 - 18 Apr 2024

Viewed by 416

Abstract

This study explores the significance of active suspension systems for vehicles with lower chassis compared to conventional ones, aiming at the development of future automobiles. Conventional linear MR (magnetorheological) dampers were found inadequate in ensuring sufficient vibration control because the vehicle’s chassis becomes lowered in the unmanned vehicles or purposed-based vehicles. As an alternative, a rotary type of MR damper is proposed in this work. The proposed damper is designed based on prespecified design parameters through mathematical modeling and magnetic field analyses. Subsequently, a prototype of the rotary MR damper identical to the design is fabricated, and effectiveness is shown through experimental investigations. In configuring the experiments, a proportional-integral (PI) controller is employed for current control to reduce the response time of the damper. The results presented in this work provide useful guidelines to develop a new type of MR damper applicable to various types of future vehicles’ suspension systems with low distance from the tire to the body floor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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26 pages, 5964 KiB

Open AccessArticle

State Observer-Based Conditioned Reverse-Path Method for Nonlinear System Identification

by Atta Oveisi, Umaaran Gogilan, Jafar Keighobadi and Tamara Nestorović

Actuators 2024, 13(4), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13040142 - 11 Apr 2024

Viewed by 422

Abstract

In light of the complex behavior of vibrating structures, their reliable modeling plays a crucial role in the analysis and system design for vibration control. In this paper, the reverse-path (RP) method is revisited, further developed, and applied to modeling a nonlinear system, particularly with respect to the identification of the frequency response function for a nominal underlying linear system and the determination of the structural nonlinearities. The present approach aims to overcome the requirement for measuring all nonlinear system states all the time during operation. Especially in large-scale systems, this might be a tedious task and often practically infeasible since it would require having individual sensors assigned for each state involved in the design process. In addition, the proper placement and simultaneous operation of a large number of transducers would represent further difficulty. To overcome those issues, we have proposed state estimation in light of the observability criteria, which significantly reduces the number of required sensor elements. To this end, relying on the optimal sensor placement problem, the state estimation process reduces to the solution of Kalman filtering. On this ground, the problem of nonlinear system identification for large-scale systems can be addressed using the observer-based conditioned RP method (OBCRP) proposed in this paper. In contrast to the classical RP method, the current one can potentially handle local and distributed nonlinearities. Moreover, in addition to the state estimation and in comparison to the orthogonal RP method, a new frequency-dependent weighting is introduced in this paper, which results in superior nonlinear system identification performances. Implementation of the method is demonstrated on a multi-degree-of-freedom discretized lumped mass system, representing a substitute model of a physical counterpart used for the identification of the model parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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16 pages, 5700 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vibration Control of Car Body and Wheel Motions for In-Wheel Motor Vehicles Using Road Type Classification

by Young-Jun Kim, Youngil Sohn, Sehyun Chang, Seung-Bok Choi and Jong-Seok Oh

Actuators 2024, 13(2), 80; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13020080 - 18 Feb 2024

Viewed by 1098

Abstract

In-wheel motor vehicles are gaining attention as a new type of electric vehicle due to their efficient power units located inside each wheel hub. However, they are more susceptible to wheel resonance due to the increase in unsprung mass caused by the weight of the motor. This can result in both decreased ride comfort and driving stability. To resolve this issue, in this study, we aim to apply an optimal switching controller with a semi-active actuator—a magnetorheological (MR) damper. For the implementation of the optimal switching controller, road type classification is also carried out. An acceleration sensor is used for the road type classification, and the control logics include a ride comfort controller (the linear quadratic regulator (LQR_Paved Road)) and a wheel motion controller (LQR_Off Road) for improved driving stability. For paved roads, the LQR_Paved Road control input is applied to the MR damper. However, if a road type prone to wheel resonance is detected, the control logic switches to the LQR_Off Road. During the transition, a weighted average of both the LQR_Paved Road and LQR_Off Road control input is applied to the actuator. Computer simulations are performed to evaluate the vibration control performance, including the ride comfort and driving stability on various road profiles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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22 pages, 18209 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vibration Damping and Noise Reduction of a New Non-Newtonian Fluid Damper in a Washing Machine

by Yuanjin Song, Zhong Zhuang, Xianping Wang, Qianfeng Fang, Zhijun Cheng and Tao Zhang

Actuators 2024, 13(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/act13010009 - 23 Dec 2023

Viewed by 1552

Abstract

Due to friction vibration dampers’ inability to effectively dampen low loads during high-frequency dewatering, drum washing machines vibrated intensively. In order to address this problem, in this paper, a novel type of low-cost non-Newtonian fluid damper is proposed and investigated based on the non-Newtonian fluid shear thinning properties’ effect on vibration suppression during the high-frequency dewatering process of the washing machine. In contrast to other commonly used dampers, the homemade non-Newtonian fluid damper significantly suppresses the growth trend of the apparent elastic coefficient at high frequencies. A systematic investigation of damper structural parameters reveals that smaller gap height, higher piston head number, and more viscous fluid viscosity are adequate for vibration suppression and noise reduction. These results demonstrate that the non-Newtonian fluid damper can produce an excellent vibration-damping effect for the entire washing process of the washing machine, especially for the high-frequency dewatering process. The acceleration attenuation ratio can reach up to 83.49%, the energy attenuation is up to 98.44%, and the noise reduction is up to 10.38 dB. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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17 pages, 912 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adaptive PID Controller for Active Suspension Using Radial Basis Function Neural Networks

by Weipeng Zhao and Liang Gu

Actuators 2023, 12(12), 437; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12120437 - 24 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1388

Abstract

Suspension systems are critical parts of modern cars. In this study, a radial basis function neural networks-based adaptive PID optimal method is presented for vehicle suspension systems. To avoid the shortcoming that the parameters of PID control are determined by experience in the traditional method, to avoid the local optimality problem and the slow rate of convergence in the modern intelligence method, radial basis function neural networks are applied in this paper. First, a quarter-car suspension is presented. Then, the radial basis function neural networks are employed to obtain the parameters of proportional, integral, and derivate components that are used in PID control. The simulation is conducted later. Next, a comparison of the progress between uncontrolled suspension, the radial basis function-based PID control, the

H_{\infty}

control method, and the FPM control method is presented. According to the simulation results, the proposed control method performs better than the others. This contrast reveals the superior characteristics of the suggested control strategy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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16 pages, 13913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Experimental Assessment of a Vibration Control System Driven by Low Inertia Hydrostatic Magnetorheological Actuators for Heavy Equipment

by Gabrielle Mallette, Charles-Étienne Gauthier, Masoud Hemmatian, Jeff Denis and Jean-Sébastien Plante

Actuators 2023, 12(11), 407; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12110407 - 29 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1373

Abstract

Active suspension systems for automotive vehicles were developed in the past using hydrostatic, electric, magnetic and magnetorheological (MR) technologies to control road vibrations and vehicle dynamics and thus improve ride comfort and vehicle performance. However, no such systems were developed for heavy equipment, trucks and off-highway vehicles. For instance, agricultural tractors are still equipped with minimal suspension systems causing discomfort and health problems to drivers. The high suspension loads due to the massive weight of these vehicles are a challenge since high forces are needed to achieve efficient active suspension control. This paper presents an experimentally validated feasibility study of a hydrostatic, MR clutch-driven system of actuators. The scope of this paper is to evaluate the preliminary performance of the actuator for future vibration control. The hydraulic system allows the actuators to be remotely located from the wheels or cabin of the heavy vehicle and conveniently placed on the vehicle’s suspended frame. The design includes two MR clutches driven in an antagonistic configuration to push and pull on the end effector. Experiments on a laboratory prototype show that the low-inertia characteristics of the clutches allow a high blocked-output force bandwidth of 20 Hz with peak output forces exceeding 15 kN. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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28 pages, 5604 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structural Optimization of Lightweight Composite Floors with Integrated Constrained Layer Damping for Vibration Control

by Carlos M. C. Renedo, Iván M. Díaz, Jaime H. García-Palacios and Christian Gallegos-Calderón

Actuators 2023, 12(7), 288; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12070288 - 13 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1162

Abstract

Due to current architectural trends, contemporary public buildings are becoming open-plan spaces with much less weight and damping. Consequently, Vibration Serviceability Limit State (VSLS) due to human-induced vibrations has become an increasing concern for structural engineers, especially when designing offices, hospitals, or gymnasiums. When dealing with resonant vibrations, a slight increase in the floor-damping enables decreasing considerably the vibration level. The damping strategy studied in this work is usually known in the literature as Constrained Layer Damping (CLD) and consists of a viscoelastic layer constrained between the concrete slab and the steel beam of a lightweight composite floor. In this paper, a complete structural checking methodology has been developed for analyzing all the limit states that determine the final sizing of a steel–concrete composite floor treated with CLD, including a detailed analysis of the VSLS. The methodology has been used for setting a structural optimization problem for floors with and without CLD treatments. Thus, it has been demonstrated that the integration of CLD treatments at the design stage of the building allows the development of lighter floor structures with a smaller embodied carbon (EC) footprint, especially for long-span schemes with restrictive vibration limitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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22 pages, 7527 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evolutionary Computation-Based Active Mass Damper Implementation for Vibration Mitigation in Slender Structures Using a Low-Cost Processor

by César Peláez-Rodríguez, Alvaro Magdaleno, Álvaro Iglesias-Pordomingo and Jorge Pérez-Aracil

Actuators 2023, 12(6), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12060254 - 18 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1158

Abstract

This work is devoted to design, implement and validate an active mass damper (AMD) for vibration mitigation in slender structures. The control law, defined by means of genetic algorithm optimization, is deployed on a low-cost processor (NI myRIO-1900), and experimentally validated on a 13.5-m lively timber footbridge. As is known, problems arising from human-induced vibrations in slender, lightweight and low-damped structures usually require the installation of mechanical devices, such as an AMD, in order to be mitigated. This kind of device tends to reduce the movement of the structure, which can be potentially large when it is subjected to dynamic loads whose main components match its natural frequencies. In those conditions, the AMD is sought to improve the comfort and fulfil the serviceability conditions for the pedestrian use according to some design guides. After the dynamic identification of the actuator, the procedure consisted of the experimental characterization and identification of the modal properties of the structure (natural frequencies and damping ratios). Once the equivalent state space system of the structure is obtained, the design of the control law is developed, based on state feedback, which was deployed in the low-cost controller. Finally, experimental adjustments (filters, gains, etc.) were implemented and the validation test was carried out. The system performance has been evaluated using different metrics, both in the frequency and time domain, and under different loads scenarios, including pedestrian transits to demonstrate the feasibility, robustness and good performance of the proposed system. The strengths of the presented work reside in: (1) the use of genetic evolutionary algorithms to optimize both the state estimator gain and the feedback gain that commands the actuator, whose performance is further tested and analyzed using different fitness functions related to both time and frequency domains and (2) the implementation of the active control system in a low-cost processor, which represents a significant advantage when it comes to implement this system in a real structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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25 pages, 6338 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Seismic Resilience of Existing Reinforced Concrete Building Using Non-Linear Viscous Dampers: A Comparative Study

by Raja Dilawar Riaz, Umair Jalil Malik, Mati Ullah Shah, Muhammad Usman and Fawad Ahmed Najam

Actuators 2023, 12(4), 175; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12040175 - 17 Apr 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2578

Abstract

After the catastrophic destruction of the October 2005 Kashmir earthquake, the first building code of Pakistan was developed in 2007. The sole purpose of the building code of Pakistan (BCP) was to incorporate advancements in earthquake-resistant design to fortify structures and ensure the safety of citizens against future seismic events. After 2007, the BCP was not revised till 2021 to include the changes over time. However, the recently updated version of BCP 2021 highlights that the seismicity of many regions in Pakistan is high, which is not truly reflected in the BCP 2007. Therefore, the advancements in earthquake-resistant design due to the growing concerns about the potential risks of seismicity in the region have been incorporated into the updated version of the BCP. However, there are concerns among researchers that many structures designed on the 2007 code may need seismic fortification. Therefore, the current study focuses on the seismic fortification of existing systems that were developed using previous codes. Non-linear viscous fluid dampers are used to improve the seismic resilience of existing structures. This study compares the seismic performance of an existing reinforced concrete building with and without non-linear viscous dampers and subjected to a non-linear dynamic analysis. The performance of the building is evaluated in terms of story displacement, story drift, story acceleration, and energy dissipation mechanisms. Adding the non-linear fluid viscous dampers in the structure caused a decrease in the inter-story drift by around 31.16% and the roof displacement was reduced by around 36.58%. In addition to that, in a controlled structure, more than 70% of energy was dissipated by the fluid viscous dampers. These results indicate that adding the non-linear fluid viscous dampers to the existing structure significantly improved the vibration performance of the system against undesirous vibrations. The outcomes of this study also provide a very detailed insight into the usage of non-linear viscous dampers for improving the seismic performance of existing buildings and can be used to develop effective strategies to mitigate the impact of seismic events on already built structures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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20 pages, 6645 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Attitude Control of Vehicle Based on Series Active Suspensions

by Weiwei Jia, Weizhou Zhang, Fangwu Ma and Liang Wu

Actuators 2023, 12(2), 67; https://doi.org/10.3390/act12020067 - 05 Feb 2023

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1757

Abstract

When vehicles with traditional passive suspension systems are driving in complex terrain, large swing and vibrations of the car body make passengers and goods uncomfortable and unstable, even at very low-speed conditions. Considering the actual need for intelligent resource exploration in the sustainable economy, visual-based perception and localization systems of unmanned vehicles still cannot handle the sensor noise coursed by large body motions. In order to improve the stability and safety of vehicles in complex terrain, an attitude control system is proposed for mainly eliminating the external body motions of the vehicle by using series active suspensions. A model predictive control method considered the differences between the simulated and real vehicle, and the performance restrictions of actuators are used to design the attitude controller for reducing the heaving, pitching, and rolling motions of the vehicle. After simulations and real car tests, the results show that the proposed attitude controller can significantly improve the attitude stability of vehicles in harsh terrain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Actuators and Dampers for Vibration Control: Damping and Isolation Applications - Volume II)

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