Active Vibration Control of Flexible Beams Based on Infinite-Dimensional Lyapunov Stability Theory: An Experimental Study.

Flexible beams are parts of lighter structures and flexible manipulators, which possess numerous advantages. However, the flexibility leads to a vibration problem. This paper presents an experimental study of active vibration control of flexible beams. The beam assumed to behave according to the Euler-Bernoulli theory is modeled by a partial differential equation. The control objective is to suppress the vibration of the beam. Based on the Lyapunov stability theory of infinite-dimension systems, a control law is directly derived without using any approximated finite-dimensional model of the beam. The success of the controller is experimentally demonstrated on a cantilever aluminum beam with a laser displacement sensor and a piezoelectric actuator. Experimental results show that the controller effectively suppresses the vibration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]