Vibration control of flexible structures with spatially distributed disturbance

This work introduces a novel optimal control framework for vibration control of flexible structures, taking into account the spatially distributed nature of the disturbance and structural response. The control framework is developed by introducing the concept of spatial H₂ norm for systems with spatially distributed input. This approach allows the systematic design of controllers that can perform optimally in the situation where, the disturbance occurs at varying locations over a structure. Simulation studies on a piezoelectric laminate beam are performed by designing spatial H₂ controllers for minimizing structural vibration due to a spatially varying bending moment. The simulation results show that the proposed spatial H₂ controllers can effectively reduce vibration when the bending moment disturbance is applied at various locations over the beam.