Damage Detection in Flexible Plate Using Lamb Waves

This paper presents an experimental technique for structural health monitoring (SHM) based on Lamb waves approach in an aluminum plate using piezoelectric material as actuators and sensors. Lamb waves are a form of elastic perturbation that remains guided between two parallel free surfaces, such as the upper and lower surfaces of a plate, beam or shelf. Lamb waves are formed when the actuator excites the surface of the structure with a pulse after receiving a signal. Two PZTs were placed in the plate surface and one of them was used to send a predefined wave through the structure. Thus, the other PZT (adjacent) becomes the sensor. Using this methodology, this paper presents one case of damage detection considering the aluminum plate in the free-free-free-free boundary condition. The damage was simulated by adding additional mass on the plate. It is proposed two damage detection indexes obtained from the experimental signal, involving the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and the power spectral density (PSD) that were computed using the output signal. The results show the viability of the presented methodology to damage detection in smart structures

Optimal and robust modal control of a flexible structure using an active dynamic vibration absorber

This paper is concerned with feedback vibration control of a lightly damped flexible structure that has a large number of well-separated modes. A single active electrical dynamic absorber is used to reduce a particular single vibration mode selectively or multiple modes simultaneously. The absorber is realized electrically by feeding back the structural acceleration at one position to a collocated piezoceramic patch actuator via a controller consisting of one or several second order lowpass filters. A simple analytical method is presented to design a modal control filter that is optimal in that it maximally flattens the mobility frequency response of the target mode, as well as robust in that it works within a prescribed maximum control spillover of 2 dB at all frequencies. Experiments are conducted with a free-free beam to demonstrate its ability to control any single mode optimally and robustly. It is also shown that an active absorber with multiple such filters can effectively control multiple modes simultaneously.

Robust broadband vibration control of a flexible structure using an electrical dynamic absorber

This paper presents a simple but practical feedback control method to suppress the vibration of a flexible structure in the frequency range between 10 Hz and 1 kHz. A dynamic vibration absorber is designed for this, which has a natural frequency of 100 Hz and a normalized bandwidth (twice the damping ratio) of 9.9. The absorber is realized electrically by feeding back the structural acceleration at one position on the host structure to a collocated piezoceramic patch actuator via an analog controller consisting of a second-order lowpass filter. This absorber is equivalent to a single degree-of-freedom mechanical oscillator consisting of a serially connected mass-spring-damper system. A first-order lowpass filter is additionally used to improve stability at very high frequencies. Experiments were conducted on a free-free beam embedded with a piezoceramic patch actuator and an accelerometer at its center. It is demonstrated that the single absorber can simultaneously suppress multiple vibration modes within the control bandwidth. It is further shown that the control system is robust to slight changes in the plant. The method described can be applied to many other practical structures, after retuning the absorber parameters for the structure under control.

Electromyographic activity of trunk muscles during exercises with flexible and non-flexible poles

Objective: Hand-held flexible poles which are brought into oscillation to cause alternating forces on trunk, are advocated as training devices that are supposed to solicit increased levels of stabilizing trunk muscle activity. The aim of this study was to verify this claim by comparing electromyographic (EMG) activity of trunk muscles during exercises performed with a flexible pole and a rigid pole.Methods: Twelve healthy females performed three different exercises with flexible and rigid poles. EMG activity of iliocostalis lumborum (IL), multifidus (MU), rectus abdominis (RA), external oblique (EO) and internal oblique (IO), and was continuously measured. The EMG signals were analyzed in time domain by calculation of the Root Mean Square (RMS) amplitudes over 250 ms windows. The mean RMS-values over time were normalized by the maximum RMS obtained for each muscle.Results: The IO showed a 72% greater EMG activity during the exercises performed with the flexible pole than with the rigid pole (p = 0.035). In exercises performed in standing, the IO was significantly more active than when sitting (p = 0.006).Conclusion: As intended, the cyclic forces induced by the oscillating pole did increase trunk muscle activation. However, the effect was limited and significant for the IO muscle only.

Short comments on self-synchronization of two non-ideal sources supported by a flexible portal frame structure

A practical problem of synchronization of a non-ideal (i.e. when the excitation is influenced by the response of the system) and non-linear vibrating system was posed and investigated by means of numerical simulations. Two rotating unbalanced motors compose the mathematical model considered here with limited power supply mounted on the horizontal beam of a simple portal frame. As a starting point, the problem is reduced to a four-degrees-of-freedom model and its equations of motion, derived elsewhere via a Lagrangian approach, are presented. The numerical results show the expected phenomena associated with the passage through resonance with limited power. Further, for a two-to-one relationship between the frequencies associated with the first symmetric mode and the sway mode, by using the variation of torque constants, the control of the self-synchronization and synchronization (in the system) are observed at certain levels of excitations.

The rigid-flexible nonlinear robotic manipulator: Modeling and control

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Automation and cybernetics: Control of a flexible one-link manipulator

States that control is of the essence in cybernetics. Summarizes the dynamic equations for a flexible one-link manipulator moving in the horizontal plane. Employs the finite element method, based on elementary beam theory, during the process of formulation. Develops and instruments a one-link flexible manipulator in order to control its vibration modes. Uses a simple second-order vibration model which permits vibrations on the rod to be estimated using the hub angle. The validation of the dynamic model and the structural analysis of the flexible manipulator is reached using proper infrared cameras and active light sources for determining actual positions of objects in space. Shows that the performance of the control is satisfactory, even under perturbation action.

Dynamic modeling and simulation of a flexible robotic manipulator

This work focuses on the dynamic modeling of a flexible robotic manipulator with two flexible links and two revolute joints, which rotates in the horizontal plane. The dynamic equations are derived using the Newton-Euler formulation and the finite element method, based on elementary beam theory. Computer simulation results are presented to illustrate this study. The dynamic model becomes necessary for use in future design and control applications.

Bacterial cellulose membrane as flexible substrate for organic light emitting devices

Bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes produced by gram-negative, acetic acid bacteria (Gluconacetobacter xylinus), were used as flexible substrates for the fabrication of Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED). In order to achieve the necessary conductive properties indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were deposited onto the membrane at room temperature using radio frequency (r.f) magnetron sputtering with an r.f. power of 30 W, at pressure of 8 mPa in Ar atmosphere without any subsequent thermal treatment. Visible light transmittance of about 40% was observed. Resistivity, mobility and carrier concentration of deposited ITO films were 4.90 x 10(-4) Ohm cm, 8.08 cm(2)/V-s and -1.5 x 10(21) cm(-3), respectively, comparable with commercial ITO substrates. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of devices based on BC membranes three OLEDs with different substrates were produced: a reference one with commercial ITO on glass, a second one with a SiO(2) thin film interlayer between the BC membrane and the ITO layer and a third one just with ITO deposited directly on the BC membrane. The observed OLED luminance ratio was: 1; 0.5; 0.25 respectively, with 2400 cd/m(2) as the value for the reference OLED. These preliminary results show clearly that the functionalized biopolymer, biodegradable, biocompatible bacterial cellulose membranes can be successfully used as substrate in flexible organic optoelectronic devices. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Application of a model updating technique for health condition monitoring and damage detection of flexible structures

This paper discusses the application of a damage detection methodology to monitor the location and extent of partial structural damage. The methodology combines, in an iterative way, the model updating technique based on frequency response functions (FRF) with monitoring data aiming at identifying the damage area of the structure. After the updating procedure reaches a good correlation between the models, it compares the parameters of the damage structure with those of the undamaged one to find the deteriorated area. The influence of the FEM mesh size on the evaluation of the extent of the damage has also been discussed. The methodology is applied using real experimental data from a spatial frame structure.

A flexible curriculum for computer science undergraduate major

This paper describes an innovative approach to establish a CS curriculum, aiming flexibility and minimization of the time spent in the classrooms. This approach has been developed at the Paulista State University - Unesp - at São José do Rio Preto, and is producing very interesting results. The load reduction is achieved through a series of fundamental core and breadth courses that precede depth courses in specific areas. The flexibility comes as a side effect of the depth courses, which can be adapted without any changes in the core courses. In the following pages we fully describe our motivations, actions and results.

Identification of structural damage in flexible structures using system norm and neural networks

Nowadays there is great interest in damage identification using non destructive tests. Predictive maintenance is one of the most important techniques that are based on analysis of vibrations and it consists basically of monitoring the condition of structures or machines. A complete procedure should be able to detect the damage, to foresee the probable time of occurrence and to diagnosis the type of fault in order to plan the maintenance operation in a convenient form and occasion. In practical problems, it is frequent the necessity of getting the solution of non linear equations. These processes have been studied for a long time due to its great utility. Among the methods, there are different approaches, as for instance numerical methods (classic), intelligent methods (artificial neural networks), evolutions methods (genetic algorithms), and others. The characterization of damages, for better agreement, can be classified by levels. A new one uses seven levels of classification: detect the existence of the damage; detect and locate the damage; detect, locate and quantify the damages; predict the equipment's working life; auto-diagnoses; control for auto structural repair; and system of simultaneous control and monitoring. The neural networks are computational models or systems for information processing that, in a general way, can be thought as a device black box that accepts an input and produces an output. Artificial neural nets (ANN) are based on the biological neural nets and possess habilities for identification of functions and classification of standards. In this paper a methodology for structural damages location is presented. This procedure can be divided on two phases. The first one uses norms of systems to localize the damage positions. The second one uses ANN to quantify the severity of the damage. The paper concludes with a numerical application in a beam like structure with five cases of structural damages with different levels of severities. The results show the applicability of the presented methodology. A great advantage is the possibility of to apply this approach for identification of simultaneous damages.

Active control in flexible plates with piezoelectric actuators using linear matrix inequalities

The study of algorithms for active vibrations control in flexible structures became an area of enormous interest, mainly due to the countless demands of an optimal performance of mechanical systems as aircraft, aerospace and automotive structures. Smart structures, formed by a structure base, coupled with piezoelectric actuators and sensor are capable to guarantee the conditions demanded through the application of several types of controllers. The actuator/sensor materials are composed by piezoelectric ceramic (PZT - Lead Zirconate Titanate), commonly used as distributed actuators, and piezoelectric plastic films (PVDF-PolyVinyliDeno Floride), highly indicated for distributed sensors. The design process of such system encompasses three main phases: structural design; optimal placement of sensor/actuator (PVDF and PZT); and controller design. Consequently, for optimal design purposes, the structure, the sensor/actuator placement and the controller have to be considered simultaneously. This article addresses the optimal placement of actuators and sensors for design of controller for vibration attenuation in a flexible plate. Techniques involving linear matrix inequalities (LMI) to solve the Riccati's equation are used. The controller's gain is calculated using the linear quadratic regulator (LQR). The major advantage of LMI design is to enable specifications such as stability degree requirements, decay rate, input force limitation in the actuators and output peak bounder. It is also possible to assume that the model parameters involve uncertainties. LMI is a very useful tool for problems with constraints, where the parameters vary in a range of values. Once formulated in terms of LMI a problem can be solved efficiently by convex optimization algorithms.