Robust Tracking of Vibration Profiles for the Exhaust Durability Test

Abstract

This paper presents a robust controller for the exhaust durability test that enables precise tracking of the vibration profiles against parameter variations. First, the dynamics between the hydraulic actuator input and the acceleration on the exhaust pipe are unravelled via a nonparametric system identification method to establish the baseline system behaviour. Next, the physics-based modelling leads to a parametric model whose dynamics match those of the nonparametric one under various conditions and, as a result, provide a clue for the root causes of the parameter variations. The structured uncertainties arising from the parameter variations naturally call for a robust control design methodology based on the μ-synthesis. The extensive validation tests show that the proposed robust control system clearly delivers the desired performance of tracking vibration profiles during the exhaust durability test while overcoming parameter variations.