Passive and Active Approaches for the Control of Nonlinear Vibrations in Mechanical Systems
A special issue of Machines (ISSN 2075-1702). This special issue belongs to the section "Machine Design and Theory".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1297
Editors
Interests: control engineering; multibody dynamics and vibration control
Interests: kinematical and dynamical systems; vibration analysis and machine learning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: railways; condition monitoring; vibration analysis; multibody dynamics systems; FEM
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Classical control techniques such as Input Shaping and other linear strategies are traditionally designed for idealized, linear dynamic systems. However, many real-world mechanical systems present significant nonlinear behaviors, such as clearance, dry friction, and backlash, which can severely affect system performance, reduce positioning accuracy, and complicate the design of effective controllers.
This Special Issue focuses on the enhancement of Input Shaping and other linear control techniques to make them suitable for such nonlinear systems. In particular, we welcome contributions that address the following aspects:
- Enhanced control of nonlinear systems: extending Input Shaping and feedback techniques to address friction, clearance, and driver backlash using Lyapunov and anti-delay strategies;
- Estimation and design of new FIR filters and time-delay filters or shapers also motion command profiles adapted to systems with clearance and friction to improve the dynamic response;
- Hybrid approaches combining Input Shaping with adaptive feedback control methods, such as Lyapunov-based Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC), to improve robustness under nonlinear conditions;
- Anti-delay closed-loop Input Shaping techniques designed to improve manual control of flexible systems affected by backlash at the machine driver and other memory-dependent behaviors.
- Experimental validations and comparative studies between physical prototypes and simulation-based multibody models.
- Applications in industrial automation, port machinery, robotics, aerospace, or any domain where nonlinearities degrade control performance.
By bridging classical linear control design with modern nonlinear-aware strategies, this Special Issue aims to gather innovative contributions that push the boundaries of applied control in real, complex mechanical systems.
Dr. Gerardo Peláez Lourido
Dr. Higinio Rubio Alonso
Dr. Alejandro Bustos Caballero
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Machines 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
- nonlinear vibrations in flexible systems
- phase plane analysis of nonlinear effects
- Coulomb friction and stick–slip dynamics
- rolling friction and nonlinear damping
- clearance and backlash in flexible systems
- input shaping for nonlinear flexible systems
- Model Reference Control (MRC)
- Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC)
- experimental validation and multibody simulations
- industrial applications in cranes and transport systems
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