Active vibration control of large optical space structures

The paper describes techniques for designing and implementing active damping systems for large optical support structures. Each step in the design process is illustrated with results from the Advanced Composites with Embedded Sensors and Actuators (ACESA) vibration control system. The system is installed on a space based laser structural simulator at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Advanced Space Structure Research Experiments facility. The ACESA system consists of three large tubular active members; embedded lead zirconate-titanate (PZTs) wafers in each strut, which allows control of deformation axially and in two bending planes; 400 V drive electronics for each active member; and a nine-channel, digitally programmable, analogue control electronics unit. Design begins with the determination of the critical modes through a gain factor analysis. Actuators are located through modal strain energy analysis. Using piezostructural analysis methods, sensing and actuation functions are included in the open- and closed-loop dynamic simulations. The simulation includes local strain feedthrough effects through a static correction. Damping is applied to all modes in the frequency range up to 100 Hit, with fundamental modes achieving 20% damping, two orders of magnitude greater than the intrinsic damping level. The actuator PZTs used for active damping were also experimentally shunted with resistive elements in an attempt to introduce passive damping, although the effect was barely measurable. This demonstrates that active damping gives three orders of magnitude better performance than a passive resistive shunt in a controlled comparison.