Experiments on Fault-Tolerant Active Vibration Control

The purpose of this work is to experimentally demonstrate a fault-tolerant active vibration control system. Active vibration control is achieved using piezoceramic sensors and actuators (transducers) that are attached to a simply supported beam. These transducers are used by a set of optimal H2 feedback compensators to minimize the lateral vibration of a beam. Actuator faults are detected and isolated with a Beard–Jones fault detection filter. This filter is a special case of Luenberger observer, which produces a residual output with specific directional properties in response to a system fault. In this current research work, a new Beard–Jones filter design methodology is introduced that permits its use on high-order systems and also on systems with feed-through dynamics. The output of this detection filter is monitored by a hybrid automaton that determines when faults occur. This hybrid automaton then directs the selection of a feedback compensator specifically designed for the detected system fault state. The result is a vibration control system that is capable of maintaining optimal performance in the presence of system faults.