Experimental Investigation of Pulse Width Modulation-Based Electromagnetic Vibration Attenuation of a Ferromagnetic Flexible Cantilever Beam (FCB).

Vibration, in most cases, is an undesirable phenomenon in electro-mechanical systems. The adverse effects of vibration in a system are noise, loss of energy, compromise on comfort, and reduced life span of mechanical systems. The current study focuses on vibration damping of a Flexible Cantilever beam (FCB) by utilizing a differential type of electromagnetic actuator. The electromagnetic forces of both actuators are controlled by Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) using a current controller designed in the lab. The electromagnets are mounted above and below the FCB by maintaining a distance along the same vertical axis. The non-contact active vibration attenuation study is carried out by varying the PWM values of upper and lower electromagnets to produce different electromagnetic forces. The current research work compares different combinations of forces on upper and lower electromagnets experimentally and, based on the analysis, provides the best combination of forces on both actuators to damp the vibrations as swiftly as possible. The study is divided into three cases where case I study the vibration damping with the same PWM on both electromagnets; in case II and case III, one of the electromagnets has fixed PWM while the PWM on other electromagnet is varied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]