Application of Nonstationary Sliding Mode Control to Suppression of Transverse Vibration of Elevator Rope Using Input Device with Gaps

Transverse vibrations of ropes spanning a high-speed elevator are induced by resonance when a building sways because of an earthquake or wind force. Hence, an effective solution is demanded. In this study, we undertake to suppress the vibration of an elevator rope by using an input device placed in the vicinity of the upper boundary of the rope. This input device has gaps between an actuator and the rope to prevent the progression of their abrasion. A nonstationary control method is effective for the control of a time-varying system with which an elevator rope and a crane wire are categorized. In addition, a sliding mode controller is robust toward nonlinearity at the position where input is introduced. Thus, in this paper, we present a method of vibration control for the elevator rope, which is based on the nonstationary sliding mode control method using the input device with gaps. The effectiveness and robustness of the proposed controller are examined by numerical calculation that simulates input saturation, stroke limitation, gap-width expansion, and varying parameters, in the presence of model errors of the elevator rope. The results indicate effective vibration suppression and high robustness in the above cases except for the case of varying parameters.