Smart materials-based structural vibration isolation for minimizing product quality variation using H_∞ - Based optimal control

An H_∞-Based optimal vibration isolation system using patch-type piezoelectric actuators and sensors, suitable for application on high-precision manufacturing equipment that is being affected by external disturbances, has been designed. Reductions of the force transmitted through the structure range from approximately 5 to 30 dB in the frequency band of interest. Robust stability, nominal performance and robust performance have all been verified using the structured singular value, μ, and simulation testing for the set of plants within a derived uncertainty set. In addition, the H _∞ controller is compared to an LQG-optimal controller designed for the same structure. The LQG controller, while achieving nominal performance comparable to the H_∞ controller and being of significantly lower order, was shown to be unstable via μ-analysis and simulation testing. Thus, the LQG design should not be applied to a machine where there is significant in-band model uncertainty. Use of light-weight patch-type piezoelectric actuators and sensors provides a low-cost, easily-installable way of applying this technique to manufacturing equipment requiring isolation from low-frequency disturbances.