Enhancing active vibration control performances in a smart structure by using fiber Bragg gratings sensors

G. Cazzulani; S. Cinquemani; L. Comolli

doi:10.1117/12.915103

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6 April 2012 Enhancing active vibration control performances in a smart structure by using fiber Bragg gratings sensors

G. Cazzulani, S. Cinquemani, L. Comolli

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Proceedings Volume 8345, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2012; 834530 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.915103
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2012, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Fiber optic strain sensors, such as Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBG), have a great potential in the use in smart structures thanks to their small transversal size and the possibility to make an array of many sensors. They can be embedded in carbon fiber structures and their effect on the structure is nearly negligible. On the other hand, some critical aspects should be evaluated, such as higher cost and lower SNR respect to traditional technologies. In this work a simple carbon fiber structure has been developed, composed of a thin cantilever with 14 longitudinal FBG sensors and 3 piezoelectric actuators (PZT). A dynamic 1 kHz swept-laser interrogator was used to gather the FBG data: the output is a digital signal and the time delay introduced has been measured. This is a critical point that restricts the highest controllable frequency: our results show that the limit is at about 50 Hz. A control system has been developed and many control strategies have been evaluated to suppress vibration, from the simplest single-sensor to single-actuator strategy, up to modal control. The SNR of the input data has been found to be critical. The use of FBG sensors allows improving the performance of the control because they give a large number of measurements regarding the state of deformation of the whole structure. Modal control was found to have the best results thanks to its best use of all the sensors data.

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G. Cazzulani, S. Cinquemani, and L. Comolli "Enhancing active vibration control performances in a smart structure by using fiber Bragg gratings sensors", Proc. SPIE 8345, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2012, 834530 (6 April 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.915103

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