Optimal boundary control of dynamics responses of piezo actuating micro-beams

Optimal control theory is formulated and applied to damp out the vibrations of micro-beams where the control action is implemented using piezoceramic actuators. The use of piezoceramic actuators such as PZT in vibration control is preferable because of their large bandwidth, their mechanical simplicity and their mechanical power to produce controlling forces. The objective function is specified as a weighted quadratic functional of the dynamic responses of the micro-beam which is to be minimized at a specified terminal time using continuous piezoelectric actuators. The expenditure of the control forces is included in the objective function as a penalty term. The optimal control law for the micro-beam is derived using a maximum principle developed by Sloss et al. [J.M. Sloss, J.C. Bruch Jr., I.S. Sadek, S. Adali, Maximum principle for optimal boundary control of vibrating structures with applications to beams, Dynamics and Control: An International Journal 8 (1998) 355–375; J.M. Sloss, I.S. Sadek, J.C. Bruch Jr., S. Adali, Optimal control of structural dynamic systems in one space dimension using a maximum principle, Journal of Vibration and Control 11 (2005) 245–261] for one-dimensional structures where the control functions appear in the boundary conditions in the form of moments. The derived maximum principle involves a Hamiltonian expressed in terms of an adjoint variable as well as admissible control functions. The state and adjoint variables are linked by terminal conditions leading to a boundary-initial-terminal value problem. The explicit solution of the problem is developed for the micro-beam using eigenfunction expansions of the state and adjoint variables. The numerical results are given to assess the effectiveness and the capabilities of piezo actuation by means of moments to damp out the vibration of the micro-beam with a minimum level of voltage applied on the piezo actuators.