Stochastic vibration suppression analysis of an optimal bounded controlled sandwich beam with MR visco-elastomer core

To control the stochastic vibration of a vibration-sensitive instrument supported on a beam, the beam is designed as a sandwich structure with magneto-rheological visco-elastomer (MRVE) core. The MRVE has dynamic properties such as stiffness and damping adjustable by applied magnetic fields. To achieve better vibration control effectiveness, the optimal bounded parametric control for the MRVE sandwich beam with supported mass under stochastic and deterministic support motion excitations is proposed, and the stochastic and shock vibration suppression capability of the optimally controlled beam with multi-mode coupling is studied. The dynamic behavior of MRVE core is described by the visco-elastic Kelvin-Voigt model with a controllable parameter dependent on applied magnetic fields, and the parameter is considered as an active bounded control. The partial differential equations for horizontal and vertical coupling motions of the sandwich beam are obtained and converted into the multi-mode coupling vibration equations with the bounded nonlinear parametric control according to the Galerkin method. The vibration equations and corresponding performance index construct the optimal bounded parametric control problem. Then the dynamical programming equation for the control problem is derived based on the dynamical programming principle. The optimal bounded parametric control law is obtained by solving the programming equation with the bounded control constraint. The controlled vibration responses of the MRVE sandwich beam under stochastic and shock excitations are obtained by substituting the optimal bounded control into the vibration equations and solving them. The further remarkable vibration suppression capability of the optimal bounded control compared with the passive control and the influence of the control parameters on the stochastic vibration suppression effectiveness are illustrated with numerical results. The proposed optimal bounded parametric control strategy is applicable to smart visco-elastic composite structures under deterministic and stochastic excitations for improving vibration control effectiveness.