Robust Vibration Control of a Cantilever Beam Using Self-Sensign Actuator

Abstract

The self-sensing actuator is a new concept for intelligent materials, where a single piezoelectric element simultaneously functions as both a sensor and an actuator. This concept should be advantageous in many aspects of control, especially for vibration control of flexible structures. The key component of this device is an electric bridge circuit that includes a piezoelement. This circuit could provide significant information about strain in the element if it were wellbalanced. Our aim is to use μ-synthesis to design a controller which guarantees that the performance of a self-sensing actuator is robust against perturbations in the bridge balance and to confirm the advantages of this technique from the viewpoint of control. Experimental results show that the self-sensing actuator driven by the designed controller exhibits excellent performance in suppressing the vibration of a cantilever and is robust compared to the conventional control scheme.