Simultaneous control and monitoring of adaptive structures using smart sensors

Adaptive structures brought a great possibility of performance improvement. The integration of actuators and sensors using smart materials enabled various applications including structural vibration control. In this study, a robust control technique is designed and implemented in order to reduce vibration of an active structure. Special attention is given to the observation spillover reduction using a sliding mode observer. The performance of the sliding mode controller with the sliding mode observer in the closed loop is shown through a set of simulation study. At the same time, a damage identification scheme, which tracks the changes of mechanical impedance due to the presence of damage, is applied to assess the health of structures with the same sensor/actuators. The main objective of this paper is to examine the feasibility of combining the two emerging techniques together. Using co-located piezoelectric sensors/actuators for vibration suppression as well as for monitoring, this technique enables to reduce the number of system components, while enhancing the performance of structures.