Modal self-excitation by nonlinear acceleration feedback in a class of mechanical systems

The article proposes an acceleration feedback based technique for exciting modal self-oscillation in a class of multi degrees-of-freedom mechanical systems. The controller comprises a bank of second-order filters and the control law is formulated as the nonlinear function of the filter output. A design methodology is developed to excite self-oscillation in any desired mode or combination of modes (mixed-mode oscillation). The choice of control parameters takes into account the control cost and robustness of the controller. The effects of structural damping on the system performance are also studied. Analytical results are confirmed by numerical simulations. An adaptive control is proposed to maintain the oscillation amplitude at the desired level.