Active vibration control of structures. Experimental verification using jet pulses.

In the present study, it is experimentally examined and verified the effectiveness of fluid jet pulses to actively control the vibrations of flexible structures. The operating principles and capabilities of the proposed control system are understood by applying them in a simplified small scaled laboratory structure, which contains the basic dynamics of real structures. The efficiency of the jet pulses as an active control system, for a wide range of base excitations, is experimentally verified. All the experimental studies demonstrated the relation governing the reduction of vibration levels with the jet air pressure. The achieved reduction in the intensity of the oscillations exceeds 50% of the oscillation without the effect of the control system. The successful studies performed on the simplified laboratory structure are promising for active vibration control using jet pulses of more complicated structures such as civil engineering metallic structures, lightweight aerospace structures, robotic arms, axially moving systems, cable stayed structures, oil platforms and any kind of coastal structures that are prone to vibrations coming from ambient and operational loads.