We propose a novel strategy for the optimal design of supplementary absorbers that warrant confinement with and without suppression of vibrations in flexible structures. We assume that the uncontrolled structure is sensitive to vibrations and that the absorbers are the elements where the vibrational energy is to be transferred. The design of these absorbers is formulated as a dynamic optimization problem in which the objective function is the total energy of the uncontrolled structure. The locations, masses, stiffnesses, and damping coefficients of these absorbers are optimized to minimize the total energy of the structure. We use the Galerkin method to discretize the equations of motion that describe the coupled dynamics of the flexible structure and the added absorbers. We develop a numerical code that computes the unknown parameters for a prespecified set of absorbers. We input a set of initial values for these parameters, and the code updates them while minimizing the total energy in the uncontrolled structure. To show the viability of the proposed design, we consider a simply supported beam with and without external excitations. In the absence of structural damping, we demonstrate that the beam, subjected to either an initial distributed energy or a harmonic excitation, periodically exchanges the vibration energy with the added absorbers. For damped beams, we show that the vibrational energy can be confined to the absorbers for suppression or harnessing purposes.
We propose a two-step strategy for the design of passive controllers for the simultaneous confinement and suppression of vibrations (SCSV) in mechanical structures. Once the sensitive and insensitive elements of these structures are identified, the first design step synthesizes an active control law, which is referred to as the reference control law (RCL), for the SCSV. We show that the problem of SCSV can be formulated as an LQR-optimal control problem through which the maximum amplitudes, associated with the control input and the displacements of the sensitive and insensitive parts, can be regulated. In the second design step, a transformation technique that yields an equivalent passive controller is used. Such a technique uses the square root of sum of squares method to approximate an equivalent passive controller while maximizing the effects of springs and dampers characterizing passive elements that are added to the original structure. The viability of the proposed control design is illustrated using a three-DOF mechanical system subject to an excitation. It is assumed that all of the masses are sensitive to the excitation, and thus the vibratory energy must be confined in the added passive elements (insensitive parts). We show that the vibration amplitudes associated with the sensitive masses are attenuated at fast rate at the expense of slowing down the convergence of the passive elements to their steady states. It is also demonstrated that a combination of the RCL and the equivalent passive control strategy leads to similar structural performance.
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