Modeling, Actuation, and Control of an Active Fluid Vibration Isolator

Abstract

An integrated mathematical model for the dynamics, actuation, and control of an active fluid/elastomeric tuned vibration isolator in a two mass system is presented. The derivation is based on the application of physical principles for mechanics, fluid continuity, and electromagnetic circuits. Improvement of the passive isolator performance is obtained with a feedback scheme consisting of a frequency shaped notch compensator in series with integral control of output acceleration and combined with proportional control of the fluid pressure in the isolator. The control is applied via an electromagnetic actuator for excitation of the fluid in the track connecting the two pressure chambers of the isolator. Closed loop system equations are transformed to a nondimensional state space representation and a key dimensionless parameter for isolator-actuator interaction is defined. A numerical example is presented to show the effect of actuator parameter selection on system damping, the performance improvement of the active over the passive isolator, the robustness of the control scheme to parameter variation, and the electrical power requirements for the actuator.