THE USE OF MAGNETOSTRICTIVE PARTICLE ACTUATORS FOR VIBRATION ATTENUATION OF FLEXIBLE BEAMS

A laminated composite beam, representative of a flexible beam, contain ing a layer of magnetostrictive material, is considered as a distribut ed parameter system and its dynamic behavior has bern investigated. Th e magnetostrictive layer is used to induce actuation forces to control vibration in the beam, following a velocity feedback control law. The dynamic behavior of the beam is studied to illustrate the effect of t he lay-up sequence, the weight or the coil, the control gain and the c oncentrated mass on the vibration suppression capability. Numerical re sults have been given for three different lay-up sequences of the lami nates, representing a wide range of stiffness variation. The controlla bility of the first four modes, the corresponding coil current and the stresses have also been discussed. The results clearly indicate viabi lity of developing a smart flexible beam with embedded magnetostrictiv e particle layers. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.