Reduction of steady-state vibrations in a piecewise linear beam system using proportional and derivative control

Control based on Proportional and/or Derivative feedback (PD control) is successfully applied to a piecewise linear beam system in order to reduce steady-state vibration amplitudes. Two control objectives are formulated: 1) to minimize the transversal vibration amplitude of the midpoint of the beam at the frequency where the first harmonic resonance occurs, and 2) to achieve this in a larger excitation frequency range. The vibration reduction that is achieved in simulations and validated by experiments is very significant for both objectives. Current results obtained with active PD control are compared with earlier results obtained using a passive linear Dynamic Vibration Absorber.