Engineering Research Equipment Grant: A Testbed for Control Systems Design for High Performance and Extended Life

This project provides resources to procure the elements of a testbed for investigating the fundamental concepts and feasibility of damage mitigating control and its design. The problem is as follows. More often than not, controller design for many processes focuses on optimization of dynamic performance under constraints that do not include or represent the structural or material limits of the system components. The equipment secured through this award supports research which addresses generic design methodology which would provide a trade-off between system dynamic performance and its life span. The hope and intent are that such an enhanced controller will reduce the detrimental effects of fatigue, creep, and wear of system components. The equipment itself comprises an electro-mechanical shaker system, and computer and data acquisition systems.