The use of magnetostrictive particle actuators for vibration attenuation of flexible beams

Abstract

A laminated composite beam, representative of a flexible beam, containing a layer of magnetostrictive material, is considered as a distributed parameter system and its dynamic behavior has been investigated. The magnetostrictive layer is used to induce actuation forces to control vibration in the beam, following a velocity feedback control law. The dynamic behavior of the beam is studied to illustrate the effect of the lay-up sequence, the weight of the coil, the control gain and the concentrated mass on the vibration suppression capability. Numerical results have been given for three different lay-up sequences of the laminates, representing a wide range of stiffness variation. The controllability of the first four modes, the corresponding coil current and the stresses have also been discussed. The results clearly indicate viability of developing a smart flexible beam with embedded magnetostrictive particle layers.