OPTIMAL ACTIVE VIBRATION ABSORBER - DESIGN AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

An optimal active vibration absorber can provide guaranteed closed-loo p stability and control for large flexible space structures with collo cated sensors/actuators. The active vibration absorber is a second-ord er dynamic system which is designed to suppress any unwanted structura l vibration. This can be designed with minimum knowledge of the contro lled system. Two methods for optimizing the active vibration absorber parameters are illustrated: minimum resonant amplitude and frequency m atched active controllers. The Controls-Structures interaction Phase-1 Evolutionary Model at the NASA Langley Research Center is used to dem onstrate the effectiveness of the active vibration absorber for vibrat ion suppression. Performance is compared numerically and experimentall y using acceleration feedback.