High order sliding manifold control for vibration reduction in flexible structures

In this paper a high order sliding manifold control approach is adopted as a technique to effectively reduce the vibrations of a metal rectangular panel. A novel theoretical result for an output feedback control law is presented to show how the singular perturbation theory can be used to tackle the problem of active vibration control. In this paper we address the problem of reducing vibration of a flexible structure subject to exogenous disturbances by using an output feedback control law. In a first phase the model of the panel is deduced, by experimentally identifying the parameters of the system. Next, we consider active DVA's (Dynamic Vibration Absorbers) as actuators, and displacement sensors, whose models are integrated into a MATLAB model of the system to be controlled. Finally the control problem is considered, and the controller is designed, by using a high order sliding manifold approach. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.