Journal of Vibration and Control

With the electrification and intellectualization of vehicle systems, electromagnetic active suspension has been paid more and more attention. Linear motor is one of the effective actuators of the electromagnetic active suspension system. The nonlinear factors of linear motor, such as nonlinear friction force and ripple force, as well as power limit and magnetic saturation, will reduce the performance of electromagnetic active suspension. However, the current research rarely considers the effect of these nonlinear factors on active suspension control. In this article, the effect of nonlinearities of linear motors on electromagnetic active suspension performance and the ways to improve their performance are studied. An adaptive filtering compensation method is proposed to reduce the influence of nonlinear factors on the electromagnetic active suspension control. According to the simulated calculations, performance degradation of the active suspension is observed in both the primary control objective and high-frequency range due to inherent disturbance from the nonlinear factors. Also, the electromagnetic nonlinearities will reduce the active suspension effective force output. By proposing an adaptive compensator based on the filtered-x recursive least squares algorithm, the first-order resonance of the suspension system could be controlled and the electromagnetic active suspension effective force could be magnified. Also, convergence of the adaptive compensator is found to be rapid and reasonable.

Rotating machinery contains numerous rolling bearings, which are critical for ensuring the normal working position and accurate operation of individual shaft systems. However, damage to rolling bearings can change their damping, stiffness, and elastic force. As a result, fault signals appear nonlinear and nonstationary. Vibration signals thus become difficult to diagnose clearly, especially in the incipient fault stage. To solve this problem, this article proposes an intelligent approach based on variational mode decomposition and the self-organizing feature map for rolling bearing fault diagnosis. First, the intrinsic mode function components of rolling bearing vibration signals are effectively separated by variational mode decomposition. Then, permutation entropy is used to extract feature vectors, which are used as training and testing data for the self-organizing feature map network. Finally, the various fault types of states are clustered on an intuitive visualization map. Clustering results of the experimental signal and the measured signal prove that the proposed method can successfully extract and cluster the rolling bearing faults in engineering applications. The proposed method improves the fault recognition rate to some extent over traditional methods.

This article presents a nonlinear vibration signature study of high-speed defective cylindrical roller bearings under unbalance rotor conditions. Qualitative analysis is conducted considering a spall defect of a specific size on major elements such as outer race, inner race, and rollers. A spring-mass model with nonlinear stiffness and damping is formulated to study the dynamic behavior of the rotor-bearing model. The set of nonlinear differential equations are solved using the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method to predict the characteristics of the discrete spectra and analyze the stability of the system. The results show that higher impulsive forces are generated because of outer race defects than defects in the inner race and roller. This can be explained as every time the roller passes through the defect in the outer race during rotation, the energy is released. However, in the case of both the roller and inner race defects, the impulsive force generated in the load zone is averaged because of the force generated in the unloading zone. The route to chaos from periodic to quasiperiodic response has been observed and analyzed that vibration signature is very much sensitive not only to the defects of bearing components but also to the rotor speed.

A high-speed supercavitating vehicle is a future underwater vehicle which exploits the supercavitating propulsion technology providing a promising way to increase the vehicle speed. Robust control challenges include complex vehicle maneuvering dynamics caused by factors such as undesired switching, delayed state dependency, and nonlinearities. As effective and applicable controllers, a novel fractional-order sliding mode controller is proposed to robustly control the uncertain high-speed supercavitating vehicle system against external disturbances. The control scheme uses sliding mode control and can produce better control actions than conventional the integer-order counterpart. In this algorithm, the fractional calculus is applied to calculate the noninteger integral or derivative in the sliding mode control algorithm, providing new capabilities for uncertain high-speed supercavitating vehicle control in seeking to operate the underwater vehicle better. The performance of the proposed fractional-order sliding mode controller has been proven through analytic simulation results, which show fast responses with smooth control actions and the ability to deal with nonlinear planing force and external disturbance. One of the interesting features of the fractional-order control system is the time convergence rate of the sliding variable vector, which is greatly improved compared with the integer-order sliding mode control. Finally, the robust control system with a novel fractional-order sliding mode controller algorithm, using high flexibility of controlling undersea vehicles, can provide superior dynamical performance with stability compared with its integer-order counterpart against system uncertainties and disturbances.

In this study, in-flight modal identification analyses are made based on vibration data collected during a flight test of an aircraft, by using two different output-only identification techniques: frequency domain decomposition and data-driven stochastic subspace identification. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of the two methods in modal parameter estimation and to validate their capability in dealing with some challenging tasks such as time tracking of modal parameters and estimating modal damping ratios. In addition, the effects of different environmental conditions and maneuvers are investigated by separating the flight-test data, such as static engine start, taxi, takeoff, cruise, roll, climb, descend, and yaw maneuvers. It is demonstrated that the selection of operational conditions and maneuvers plays a crucial role in identifying the modal parameters of the aircraft.

This article presents a quasi–zero-stiffness isolator with a cam-based negative-stiffness mechanism, where the cam has a user-defined noncircular profile to generate negative stiffness to counterbalance the positive stiffness of the vertical spring and yield the quasi–zero-stiffness characteristic around the equilibrium position. Unlike previous studies, the proposed quasi–zero-stiffness isolator has the preferable feature that the desired cubic restoring force can be directly obtained through the well-designed profile of the cam in the negative-stiffness mechanism with the friction considered during the model design, rather than through the Taylor expansion and friction-ignoring assumption, which can avoid the approximation error between the theoretical design and the specific realization. The pure-cubic nonlinear differential equation of motion of the quasi–zero-stiffness isolator is derived and solved with the harmonic balance method, followed by the discussion of the relevant dynamic characteristics. Experimental studies are carried out based on the physical prototype of the quasi–zero-stiffness isolator. The results show that the quasi–zero-stiffness isolator can greatly extend the isolation frequency bandwidth and has a much lower resonance peak. In the low-frequency band, the quasi–zero-stiffness isolator greatly outperforms the corresponding linear system but is equivalent or even inferior in the high-frequency range with the increase of excitation force.

The problem of wave propagation in the generalized theory of micropolar thermoelasticity under the Green–Lindsay model has been investigated. We have investigated the reflected dilatational and shear waves due to incident waves at a plane-free surface of generalized micropolar thermoelastic materials. The amplitude and energy ratios corresponding to the reflected coupled dilatational and coupled shear waves are derived using boundary conditions at the free surface. These ratios are also computed numerically for a particular model. Note that there are critical angles for the incident shear wave.

The present work addresses chaos synchronization between two different general chaotic systems with parametric and structural uncertainties, subject to external disturbances and input dead-zone nonlinearities. In this regard, a novel robust controller has been designed that guarantees asymptotic stability of synchronization errors and boundedness of all closed-loop signals. One advantage of the proposed controller over the existing control algorithms is using only one update law for estimating the structural uncertainties, external disturbances, and unknown characteristics of the dead-zone nonlinearities, which reduces the computational burden considerably. The designed controller is singularity free, and a smooth projection algorithm has been used to make the controller more robust. In addition, a finite-time controller has been designed and its performance has been compared with the robustly designed controller.

Earthquakes are catastrophic events causing loss of lives, injuries, and extensive losses in properties. Majority of the life and property losses of earthquakes are dependent on the incapabilities of the building stock to resist earthquakes. Although unsuitable design, analyses, and production techniques play a major role as the main reasons for the poor performance of buildings against earthquakes, buildings constructed in accordance with building codes also suffer from the devastating impact of earthquakes. In this context, the lack of proper management and adequate damping of the energy caused by earthquakes is a major cause of structural damage in earthquakes. The efficiency of conventional basic elements in structures with energy damping is very limited and may not be sufficient for the damping of a large amount of earthquake-induced energy. Thanks to the rapid advances in technology and associated engineering techniques, numerous new products, and production and calculation techniques are underway to mitigate the devastating effects of earthquakes on buildings. In this study, it was aimed to theoretically and experimentally investigate the performance of a versatile friction-type seismic damper that eliminates earthquake energy. The damper is designed using a spherical surface friction joint to respond to all loads regardless of the loading direction. The damper can be easily adjusted to the desired capacity by means of bolt tensioning elements. Experiments have been carried out for various shear loads and damping parameters. Furthermore, numerical analysis of the model was carried out by use of the finite element method. The results of this study revealed that the shear load capacity of the device did not change at different frequencies. Analyzing the effect of the equipment on a structure, it was understood that it reduces roof displacement and periods of the structure. The analysis revealed that the damper significantly improved the earthquake performance of the structure.

The propagation of Rayleigh type surface waves in a rotating elastic half-space of orthotropic type is studied under impedance boundary conditions. The secular equation is obtained explicitly using traditional methodology. A program in MATLAB software is developed to obtain the numerical values of the nondimensional speed of Rayleigh wave. The speed of Rayleigh wave is illustrated graphically against rotation rate, nondimensional material constants, and impedance boundary parameters.

This study investigates the use of single-input single-output and multi-input multi-output control strategies for performing single-axis vibration control tests. In particular, the work addresses the problem of high-level cross-axis responses during those tests. To compare the two control strategies, the study presents a test campaign carried out on an automotive component by exploiting two different test facilities: a single-axis shaker and a three-degree-of-freedom shaker table. The analysis points out the limitations of the single-input single-output control strategy. The coupling between the excitation system and the test specimen causes cross-axis excitations that compromise the test validity. In some cases, the cross-axis vibration level even exceeds the acceptable threshold of 14 dB. The multi-input multi-output control strategy instead, besides the feedback control of the main axis, allows the simultaneous vibration control along the two cross axes, thus, improving the quality of the single-axis test. Moreover, the work provides a detailed study followed by practical examples on how to better exploit the evident potential of the multi-input multi-output control strategy for definitely avoiding cross-axis vibration control problems.

To improve the vibration isolation performance for a parallel electromagnetic isolation system, an improved genetic algorithm to optimize the Q and R matrices in the control objective function for a model predictive control approach is proposed. In this study, a parallel electromagnetic isolation system with two electromagnetic isolation units is designed to expand the vibration isolation range to isolate the large object. The dynamical equation and state equation of the parallel electromagnetic isolation system are built. The nonlinear relationship among electromagnetic force, coil current, and gap is calculated by COMSOL Multiphysics to design the model predictive control controller. Meanwhile, an improved genetic algorithm by the variable chromosome length coevolutionary method is presented to tackle two issues. The first issue is that the parameters of Q and R matrices in the control objective function are mainly selected by trial and error. The other issue is that the model predictive control approach needs to determine prediction steps which may lead to the model predictive control approach suffering from heavy computation or an inaccurate prediction model. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that the parallel electromagnetic isolation system with model predictive control method based on the improved genetic algorithm can achieve better vibration isolation performance in comparison with the passive isolation system.

The structure of low-to-medium–speed maglev trains significantly differs from that of traditional wheel/rail trains, leading to significant differences between the coupling vibration mechanism of the train and bridge systems. To determine the vertical dynamic interaction of the low-to-medium–speed maglev train–bridge system, a dynamic interaction model was established and studied, based on a proportional–integral–derivative active suspension control system and modal superposition method. The simulation model was validated through bridge dynamic field tests on the Changsha low-to-medium–speed maglev commercial line. The vertical dynamic characteristics of the system were analyzed for bridges with different girder heights. Subsequently, the mechanism of the vertical resonance of the bridge induced by the maglev train was analyzed carefully. The results show that reducing the bridge rigidity increases the electromagnetic levitation force, thereby increasing the dynamic response. The low-speed resonance in the bridge is caused by the circulation loading frequency of the adjacent electromagnetic force, whereas the normal-speed resonance is induced by the self-frequency of the electromagnetic levitation force.

The objective of this work was to suppress the vibration of flexible structures by using a distributed cooperative control scheme with decentralized sensors and actuators. For the application of the distributed cooperative control strategy, we first propose the multiple autonomous substructure models for flexible structures. Each autonomous substructure is equipped with its own sensor, actuator, and controller, and they all have computation and communication capabilities. The primary focus of this investigation was to illustrate the use of a distributed cooperative protocol to enable vibration control. Based on the proposed models, we design two novel active vibration control strategies, both of which are implemented in a distributed manner under a communication network. The distributed controllers can effectively suppress the vibration of flexible structures, and a certain degree of interaction cooperation will improve the performance of the vibration suppression. The stability of flexible systems is analyzed by the Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical examples of a cantilever beam structure demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods.

Asymmetric structures experience torsional effects when subjected to seismic excitation. The resulting rotation will further aggravate the damage of the structure. A mathematical model is developed to study the translation and rotation response of the structure during seismic excitation. The motion equations of the structures which cover the translation and rotation are obtained by the theoretical derivations and calculations. Through the simulated computation, the translation and rotation response of the structure with the uncontrolled system, the tuned mass damper control system, and active tuned mass damper control system using linear quadratic regulator algorithm are compared to verify the effectiveness of the proposed active control system. In addition, the linear quadratic regulator and fuzzy neural network algorithm are used to the active tuned mass damper control system as a contrast group to study the response of the structure with different active control method. It can be concluded that the structure response has a significant reduction by using active tuned mass damper control system. Furthermore, it can be also found that fuzzy neural network algorithm can replace the linear quadratic regulator algorithm in an active control system. Because fuzzy neural network algorithm can control the process on an uncertain mathematical model, it has more potential in practical applications than the linear quadratic regulator control method.

In this article, a clutching inerter damper is introduced into the conventional tuned mass damper to replace the typical damping element. Regarding the limitation of the typical damping element, the reformed clutching tuned mass damper system is more flexible in parameter design than the optimal tuned mass damper, which may be constrained by the manufacturing process to realize the too small or too large damping coefficient. To investigate the effectiveness of the clutching tuned mass damper, some fundamental analyses are first conducted on the clutching tuned mass damper, and results show that the clutching tuned mass damper system can achieve a similar control effect to the optimal tuned mass damper design. Considering the inherent nonlinearity of the clutching tuned mass damper, the equivalent linearization is performed based on the equivalent linearization parameters drawn from the single-degree-of-freedom system with clutching inerter damper. The equivalent linear system of the clutching tuned mass damper system has been proved to be quite accurate to approximate the nonlinear clutching tuned mass damper system. Based on the equivalent linear system, the performance evaluation and optimal design of the clutching tuned mass damper system are carried out by numerical analysis and analytical solution. Results have shown that there is an optimum inertance for the clutching tuned mass damper to achieve the optimal performance, and the optimum inertance is related to the structural damping ratio and the tuned mass ratio. Finally, the effectiveness of the clutching tuned mass damper system and its equivalent linear system in a multi-degree-of-freedom structure is verified by a numerical study.

In this work, the normal contact stiffness of lubricated rough interface is evaluated theoretically by describing the lubricated rough interface as an equivalent thin layer. Layer parameters, including equivalent thickness and effective Young’s modulus, are used to characterize the normal contact stiffness by incorporating the contributions of asperity contact and lubricant contact simultaneously. On the basis of layer parameters, the normal contact stiffness of lubricated rough interface is obtained as a function of interfacial separation, surface topography, and properties of contacting solids and lubricants. Effects of surface topographies and lubricant types on the normal contact stiffness are investigated at varying interfacial separations and contact area fractions. The proportion of solid stiffness and lubricant stiffness from the total normal stiffness is also discussed. Numerical solutions reveal that the normal contact stiffness depends sensitively on the lubricant property at initial contact, whereas the influences of surface topographies become obvious with the decrement of interfacial separation or increment of contact area fraction. Comparisons between the predicted values of normal contact stiffness and experimental data for both dry interface and lubricated interface are presented to validate the rationality of the developed model.

Propagation of harmonic plane waves is considered in an orthotropic elastic medium in the presence of initial stress and gravity. Roots of a quadratic equation define the propagation of one quasi-longitudinal wave and one quasi-transverse wave in a symmetry plane in this medium. These two waves are coupled in the identical phase to define the propagation of Rayleigh waves at the boundary of the medium. Two conditions at the stress-free boundary translate into a complex frequency equation, which explains the dispersive behavior of this Rayleigh wave. For the presence of radical terms, this complex equation is rationalized into a real algebraic equation. Only one root of this algebraic equation satisfies the mother frequency equation and hence represents the propagation of dispersive Rayleigh waves at the boundary of the orthotropic solid. The influence of initial stress and gravity on velocity and polarization of Rayleigh waves is observed through a numerical example.

This article presents a novel tracking control technique with preview action for a class of continuous-time Lipschitz nonlinear systems. First, by using the differentiation approach, the considered Lipschitz nonlinear system is formally transformed into a quasi-linear parameter varying system. Then, with the aid of the lifting method along with some special mathematical manipulations, an augmented error system with the known future reference knowledge is successfully constructed. The tracking problem is, thereby, reduced into a standard H_∞ control problem. To guarantee that the closed-loop system remains asymptotically stable and satisfies acceptable H_∞ performance, a suitable state feedback controller is established through testing the feasibility of given linear matrix inequality. Based on this, an innovative tracking control law composed of state feedback control action, integral control action, and preview action of the reference signal is proposed for the first time. Simulation results demonstrate that the suggested controller leads to the superior improvement on the tracking performance than the existing control scheme.

This article proposes a methodology for integrating adaptive control with the control-based continuation paradigm for a class of uncertain, linear, discrete-time systems. The proposed adaptive control strategies aim to stabilize the closed-loop dynamics with convergence toward a known reference input, such that the dynamics approach the open-loop fixed point if the reference input is chosen to make the steady-state control input equal 0. This enables the tracking of a parameterized branch of open-loop fixed points using methods of numerical continuation without specific knowledge about the system. We implement two different adaptive control strategies: model-reference adaptive control and pole-placement adaptive control. Both implementations achieve the desired objectives for the closed-loop dynamics and support parameter continuation. These properties, as well as the boundedness of system states and control inputs, are guaranteed provided that certain stability conditions are satisfied. Besides, the tuning effort is significantly reduced in the adaptive control schemes compared with traditional proportional–derivative controllers and linear state-space feedback controllers.