In recent years, response analysis of complex structures under impact loads has attracted a great deal of attention. For example, a collision or an accident that produces impact loads that exceed the design load can cause severe damage on the structural components. Although the AASHTO specification is used for impact-resistant bridge design, it has many limitations. The AASHTO specification does not incorporate complex and uncertain factors. Thus, a well-designed structure that can survive a collision under specific conditions in one region may be severely damaged if it were impacted by a different vessel, or if it were located elsewhere with different in-situ conditions. With these limitations in mind, we propose different solutions that use smart control technology to mitigate impact hazard on structures. However, it is challenging to develop an accurate mathematical model of the integrated structure-smart control systems. The reason is due to the complicated nonlinear behavior of the integrated nonlinear systems and uncertainties of high impact forces. In this context, novel algorithms are developed for identification, control and monitoring of nonlinear responses of smart structures under high impact forces. To evaluate the proposed approaches, a smart aluminum and two smart reinforced concrete beam structures were designed, manufactured, and tested in the High Impact Engineering Laboratory of Civil and Environmental Engineering at WPI. High-speed impact force and structural responses such as strain, deflection and acceleration were measured in the experimental tests. It has been demonstrated from the analytical and experimental study that: 1) the proposed system identification model predicts nonlinear behavior of smart structures under a variety of high impact forces, 2) the developed structural health monitoring algorithm is effective in identifying damage in time-varying nonlinear dynamic systems under ambient excitations, and 3) the proposed controller is effective in mitigating high impact responses of the smart structures.

"Maintaining an efficient and reliable infrastructure requires continuous monitoring and control. In order to accomplish these tasks, algorithms are needed to process large sets of data and for modeling based on these processed data sets. For this reason, computationally efficient and accurate modeling algorithms along with data compression techniques and optimal yet practical control methods are in demand. These tools can help model structures and improve their performance. In this thesis, these two aspects are addressed separately. A principal component analysis based adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system is proposed for fast and accurate modeling of time-dependent behavior of a structure integrated with a smart damper. Since a smart damper can only dissipate energy from structures, a challenge is to evaluate the dissipativity of optimal control methods for smart dampers to decide if the optimal controller can be realized using the smart damper. Therefore, a generalized deterministic definition for dissipativity is proposed and a commonly used controller, LQR is proved to be dissipative. Examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling algorithm and evaluating the dissipativity of LQR control method. These examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed modeling algorithm and dissipativity of LQR controller."

Cette étude traite de la stabilité et la post-bifurcation des élastomères magnétorhéologiques isotropes (MRE). Les MRE sont des élastomères comprenant une fraction en volume fini de particules de fer magnétisables, réparties de façon aléatoire dans le volume. Plus précisément, un système de film/substrat magnéto-élastique non linéaire est exploité expérimentalement, numériquement et théoriquement pour obtenir un contrôle actif de la rugosité de la surface du film. L'interaction non-intuitive entre le champ magnétique et la déformation élastique est due au choix des matériaux et de la géométrie du système, à savoir un film composite de particules ferromagnétiques collé sur une fondation passive et compliante. La coopération de deux mécanismes qui sont par ailleurs indépendants, la pré-compression mécanique et le champ magnétique, permet de rapprocher la structure d'un état faiblement stable et puis de la rendre instable par des champs magnétiques ou mécaniques. Nous démontrons pour la première fois que le champ magnétique critique est une fonction décroissante de la pré-compression et vice versa. Les résultats expérimentaux sont ensuite sondés avec succès par des simulations à champs complets par éléments finis en grandes déformations et champs magnétiques. Une analyse théorique de bifurcation magnéto-mécanique sur un système magnéto-élastique infini est également utilisée pour explorer l'effet des propriétés combinées sur la réponse critique.Dans la perspective d'élargir l'activation de surface à de nouveaux motifs magnéto-mécaniques, nous étudions plus en détail la post-stabilité d'un bloc bi-couche entièrement magnétorhéologique. L'idée sous-jacente est de créer différents contrastes entre les couches de propriétés magnétiques/mécaniques et de déclencher une gamme de motifs de surface plus riche que celle déjà obtenue en utilisant un film MRE sur une fondation passive. Les calculs post-bifurcation des films MRE collés sur des substrats MRE permettent de mettre en évidence les modes morphologiques résultant de la (in)compatibilité des modes de champs indépendants. Le couplage magnéto-élastique permet le contrôle réversible marche/arrêt de la configuration de surface sous des champs magnétiques et mécaniques critiques ajustables et donc, cette étude constitue un premier pas vers des dispositifs haptiques et morphiques actifs. / The present work deals with the stability and post-bifurcation response of isotropic magnetorheological elastomers (MREs). MREs are elastomers comprising a finite volume fraction of magnetizable iron particles, distributed randomly in the volume. Specifically, a nonlinear magnetoelastic film/substrate system is experimentally, numerically and theoretically exploited to obtain active control of surface roughness. The non-intuitive interplay between magnetic field and elastic deformation owes to material and geometry selection, namely, a ferromagnetic particle composite film bonded on a compliant passive foundation. Cooperation of two otherwise independent loading mechanisms--mechanical pre-compression and magnetic field--allows to bring the structure near a marginally stable state and then destabilize it with either magnetic or mechanical fields. We demonstrate for the first time that the critical magnetic field is a decreasing function of pre-compression and vice versa. The experimental results are probed successfully with full-field finite element simulations at large strains and magnetic fields. A theoretical magnetomechanical bifurcation analysis on an infinite magnetoelastic system is further employed to explore the effect of the interlayer combined properties on the critical response and is compared with the available numerical results.  With the perspective of applying the principle of surface actuation to new magnetomechanically triggered patterns, we further investigate the post-bifurcation of an entirely magnetorheological bilayer block. The underlying idea is to create different interlayer contrasts of magnetic and mechanical properties allowing us to trigger a larger range of surface patterns than that already obtained when using a MRE film on a passive (magnetically insensitive) foundation. Post-bifurcation calculations of MRE films bonded on MRE substrates allow to reveal novel patterns that lead to significant curvature localisation and crinkling.  In all cases studied, the magnetoelastic coupling allows for the reversible on/off control of surface patterning under adjustable critical magnetic and mechanical fields for a single specimen and thus, this study constitutes a first step towards realistic active haptic and morphing devices.

<p>U doktorskoj disertaciji razmatra se unapređenje konstrukcije magnetoreolo&scaron;ke disk kočnice sa ciljem povećanja vrednosti ukupnog kočnog momenta. Radi potpunog razumevanja međusobnog odnosa materijala i magnetskog polja na prvom mestu je izvr&scaron;eno utvrđivanje magnetskih svojstava materijala. Unapređenje konstrukcije je izvr&scaron;eno kroz vi&scaron;e iteracija i prototipova. Merenje vrednosti ukupnog kočnog momenta je podeljeno na merenje vi&scaron;e njegovih komponenti pri različitim vrednostima broja obrtaja i upravljačke struje namotaja.</p> / <p>In this thesis magnetorheological disk brake construction improvement is considered, with the goal to increase the overall braking torque value. For purposes of better understanding of material to magnetic field relationship, series of magnetic field testing were conducted. Construction improvement has been carried out through several iterations and different prototypes. Overall braking torque value measurements have been divided into several component measurements, utilizing different rotational speeds and coil control currents.</p>

The main motivation of this study is the design of a control strategy for semi-active vehicle suspension systems to improve ride comfort for road vehicles. In order to achieve this objective, firstly the damping characteristics of Magnetorheological dampers will be reviewed. Then an appropriate semi-active control strategy manipulating the inputs of the dampers to create suitable damping forces will be designed. Linear Quadratic Regulator (LQR) control strategy is the primary focus area on semi-active control throughout this study. Further, skyhook controllers are examined and compared with optimal LQR controllers. The semi-active controller is tuned using a linearized full (4 wheel) vehicle ride model with seven degrees of freedom. Some selected simulations are carried out by using a nonlinear model to tune LQR controller in an effort to optimize bounce, pitch, and roll motion of the vehicle. Time domain simulations and frequency response analysis are used to justify the effectiveness of the proposed LQR control strategy.

Vacuum bags in conjunction with autoclaves are currently employed to generate the consolidation pressures and temperatures required to manufacture aerospace level composites. As the scale of continuous fiber composite structures increases autoclaving becomes prohibitively expensive or impossible. The objective of this work is to develop flexible magnetic clamping structures to increase the consolidation pressure in conventional vacuum bagging of composite laminates, thereby obviating the need for an autoclave. A ferromagnetic rubber, which consists of rubber filled with iron, is being developed as a conformable and reusable vacuum bag that provides increased consolidation through attractive forces produced by electromagnets. Experiments and finite element modeling indicate that consolidation pressure in the range of 100 kPa can be generated by such a device with realistic power requirements. The effects of the magnetic clamping device process parameters on the consolidation pressure magnitude are modeled and characterized. In addition, a method for the efficient design of the magnetic clamping device is developed.

As Civil Engineering structures, e.g., tall buildings, long span bridges, deep water offshore platforms, nuclear power plants, etc., have become more costly, complex and serve more critical functions, the consequences of their failure are catastrophic. Therefore, the protection of these structures against damage induced by large environmental loads, e.g., earthquakes, strong wind gusts and waves, etc., is without doubt, a worldwide priority. However, structures cannot be designed to withstand all possible external loads and some extraordinary loading episodes do occur, leading to damage or even failure of the structure. Protection of a structure against hazards can be achieved by various means such as modifying structural rigidities, increasing structural damping, and by attaching external devices, known as control devices. Control devices can be deployed either to isolate the structure from external excitation or to absorb input seismic energy to the structure (absorber) so as to mitigate vibration in the primary structure. Seismic base isolation is one such mechanism which isolates a structure from harmful ground excitations. Seismic base isolation is a widely accepted and implemented structural control mechanism due to its robustness and ease in deployment. Following the Northridge earthquake (1994), and Kobe earthquake (1995), the interest of structural engineers in understanding near-source ground motions has enhanced. Documents published after these earthquakes emphasized the issue of large base displacements because of the use of none or little isolation damping (of viscous type only) prior to these events. More recent studies have investigated analytically and experimentally, the efficiency of various dissipative mechanisms to protect seismic isolated structures from recorded near-source long period, pulse-type, high velocity ground motions. Consequently, hybrid isolation systems, seismic base isolation supplemented with damping mechanisms, have become the focus of current research trend in structural vibration control. Hybrid base isolation system incorporating passive supplemental damping devices like, viscous fluid dampers, etc., performs satisfactorily in minimizing isolator displacement but at the same time increases superstructure acceleration response. Furthermore, the passive system can be tuned to a particular frequency range and its performance decreases for frequencies of excitation outside the tunning bandwidth. In such a scenario, active control devices in addition to base isolation mechanism provide better performance in reducing base displacement and superstructure acceleration for a broad range of excitation frequencies. Tremendous power requirement and the possibility of power failure during seismic hazards restrict the usage of active systems as a supplemental device. Semi-active devices provide the robustness of passive devices and adaptive nature of active devices. These characteristics make them better suited for structural control applications. The recent focus is on the development of magnetorheological (MR) dampers as semi-active device for structural vibration control applications. MR dampers provide hysteretic damping and can operate with battery power. The thrust of this thesis is on developing a hybrid base isolation mechanism using MR dampers as a supplemental damping device. The use of MR damper as a semi-active device involves two steps; development of a model to describe the MR damper hysteretic behaviour; development of a proper nonlinear control algorithm to monitor MR damper current / voltage supply. Existing parametric models of MR damper hysteretic behaviour, e.g., Bouc-Wen model, fail to consider the effect of amplitude and frequency of excitation on the device. Recently reported literature has demonstrated the necessity of incorporating amplitude and frequency dependence of MR damper models. The current/voltage supply as the input variable to the MR damper restricts the direct use of any control algorithms developed for active control of structures. The force predicted by the available control algorithms should be mapped to equivalent current/voltage and then to be fed into the damper. Available semi-active algorithms in the literature used ‘on-off’ or ‘bang-bang’ strategy for MR applications due to nonlinear current/voltage-force relation of MR damper. The ‘on-off’ nature of these algorithms neither provides smooth change in MR damper current/voltage input nor considers all possible current/ voltage values within its minimum to maximum range. Secondly, these algorithms fail to consider the effect of the MR damper applied and commanded current/voltage dynamics. The thrust of this dissertation is to develop semi-active control algorithms to monitor MR damper supply current/voltage. The study develops a Bouc-Wen based model to characterize the MR damper hysteretic phenomenon. Experimental results and modeling details have been documented. A fuzzy based intelligent control and two model-based nonlinear control algorithms based on optimal dynamic inversion and integral backstepping have been developed. Performance of the fuzzy logic based intelligent control has been explored using experimental investigation on a three storey base isolated building. Further the application of the proposed controllers on a benchmark building; a benchmark highway bridge and a stay cable vibration reduction have been discussed. Experimental study has revealed that the performance of optimal FLC is better than manually designed FLC in terms of reducing base displacement and storey accelerations. The performance of both the FLCs (simple FLC and genetic algorithm based optimal FLC) is better than ‘passive-off’ (zero ampere current supply) and ‘passive-on’ (one ampere current supply) condition of MR damper applications. The ‘passive-off’ results have shown higher base displacements with lower storey accelerations, whereas, the ‘passive-on’ results have reduced base displacement to the least but at the same time increased the storey acceleration too much. The FLC monitored MR damper show a compromise between the two passive conditions. Analytical results confirm these observations. Numerical simulations of the base isolated building with the two model based MR damper control algorithms developed have shown a better performance over FLC and widely used clipped optimal algorithms. The applications of the proposed semi-active control algorithms (FLC, dynamic inversion and integral backstepping) have shown better performance in comparison to that of control algorithms provided with the benchmark studies.

Los sistemas tales como edificios y veh¨ªculos est¨¢n sujetos a vibraciones que pueden causar mal funcionamiento, incomodidad o colapso. Para mitigar estas vibraciones, se suelen instalar amortiguadores. Estas estructuras se convierten en sistemas adaptr¨®nicos cuando los amortiguadores son controlables. Esta tesis se enfoca en la soluci¨®n del problema de vibraciones en edificios y veh¨ªculos usando amortiguadores magnetoreol¨®gicos (MR). Estos son unos amortiguadores controlables caracterizados por una din¨¢mica altamente no lineal. Adem¨¢s, los sistemas donde se instalan se caracterizan por la incertidumbre param¨¦trica, la limitaci¨®n de medidas y las perturbaciones desconocidas, lo que obliga al uso de t¨¦cnicas complejas de control. En esta tesis se usan Backstepping, QFT y H2/H¡Þ mixto para resolver el problema. Las leyes de control se verifican mediante simulaci¨®n y experimentaci¨®n. / Buildings and vehicle systems are subject to vibrations that may cause malfunctioning, discomfort or collapse. It is an extended practice to install damping devices in order to mitigate such vibrations. With controllable dampers, structures act as adaptronic systems. This dissertation focuses on solving the vibration mitigation problem in buildings and vehicles making use of magnetorheological (MR) dampers which are controllable devices characterized by a highly nonlinear dynamics. Additionally, the systems where they are installed, are characterized by parametric uncertainties, limited measurement availability and unknown disturbances. This implies the use of complex control techniques in order to get a reliable performance of the control system. This research makes use of Backstepping, QFT and Mixed H2/H¡Þ control techniques for achieving the proposed goal. These are verified thorugh simulations and experimentation.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:27:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-02-29Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:35:06Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 mesquitaneto_c_me_ilha.pdf: 1673109 bytes, checksum: 0f8131abf5fc45715c92abece81e6a7a (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Neste trabalho é apresentado uma proposta de absorvedor de vibrações ajustável tipo viga sanduíche utilizando fluido Magnetoreológico no centro. Para o desenvolvimento deste projeto foi realizada uma revisão sobre os vários tipos de absorvedores e algumas aplicações. Em seguida foi realizado um estudo sobre o comportamento do fluido magnetoreológico, mostrando como este material inteligente varia suas propriedades quando submetido a um campo magnético. O objetivo do estudo foi verificar as propriedades do sistema para realização de um futuro controle, que é realizado através da variação do campo magnético. Avaliou-se, também, a relação com a corrente elétrica, quais os parâmetros que o influenciam e como podemos produzir um campo magnético com a intensidade desejada. Para avaliar as características do sistema foi utilizado o modelo no programa Ansys, com o objetivo de se verificar o comportamento do sistema. Para encontrar as características reais do sistema foi utilizado o modelo na forma de espaço de estados modais, identificado através do método PEM, Método de Predição de Erros (do inglês Prediction Error Methods PEM). Os testes experimentais foram realizados para se adquirir conhecimento do comportamento dinâmico deste tipo de fluido e, verificar se há repetibilidade nas medidas / This work presents a proposal of a tunable vibrations absorber type sandwich beam, using the Magnetorheologic fluid in the intermediate layer. For the development of this study a revision of some types of absorber with some applications was carried out. After that, a study of the behavior of the magnetorheologic fluid was carried through, showing as this intelligent material tunable its properties when submitted to a magnetic field. The objective of this analysis was to verify the properties of the system for implementation of a future control, which is based on the variation of the magnetic field. It was realized an analysis of the relation of the electric current and the parameters that influence it, in order to produce a magnetic field with the desired intensity. The characteristics of the system were verified through a mathematical model obtained with the software Ansys. The real characteristics of the system were found through the identification method PEM, Prediction Error Methods, using modal space states formulation. Experimental tests were carried out in order to obtain know how of the dynamic behavior of this type of material

Magnetorheological (MR) dampers are adaptive devices whose properties can be adjusted through the application of a controlled voltage signal. A semi-active suspension system incorporating MR dampers combines the advantages of both active and passive suspensions. For this reason, there has been a continuous effort to develop control algorithms for MR-damped vehicle suspension systems to meet the requirements of the automotive industry. The overall aims of this thesis are twofold: (i) The investigation of non-parametric techniques for the identification of the nonlinear dynamics of an MR damper. (ii) The implementation of these techniques in the investigation of MR damper control of a vehicle suspension system that makes minimal use of sensors, thereby reducing the implementation cost and increasing system reliability. The novel contributions of this thesis can be listed as follows: 1- Nonparametric identification modelling of an MR damper using Chebyshev polynomials to identify the damping force from both simulated and experimental data. 2- The neural network identification of both the direct and inverse dynamics of an MR damper through an experimental procedure. 3- The experimental evaluation of a neural network MR damper controller relative to previously proposed controllers. 4- The application of the neural-based damper controller trained through experimental data to a semi-active vehicle suspension system. 5- The development and evaluation of an improved control strategy for a semi-active car seat suspension system using an MR damper. Simulated and experimental validation data tests show that Chebyshev polynomials can be used to identify the damper force as an approximate function of the displacement, velocity and input voltage. Feed-forward and recurrent neural networks are used to model both the direct and inverse dynamics of MR dampers. It is shown that these neural networks are superior to Chebyshev polynomials and can reliably represent both the direct and inverse dynamic behaviours of MR dampers. The neural network models are shown to be reasonably robust against significant temperature variation. Experimental tests show that an MR damper controller based a recurrent neural network (RNN) model of its inverse dynamics is superior to conventional controllers in achieving a desired damping force, apart from being more cost-effective. This is confirmed by introducing such a controller into a semi-active suspension, in conjunction with an overall system controller based on the sliding mode control algorithm. Control performance criteria are evaluated in the time and frequency domains in order to quantify the suspension effectiveness under bump and random road excitations. A study using the modified Bouc-Wen model for the MR damper, and another study using an actual damper fitted in a hardware-in-the-loop- simulation (HILS), both show that the inverse RNN damper controller potentially gives significantly superior ride comfort and vehicle stability. It is also shown that a similar control strategy is highly effective when used for a semi-active car seat suspension system incorporating an MR damper.