Active Feedback Control of a Web Flutter Using Flow Control Devices*

This paper develops a non-contact active feedback control of web flutter in a narrow passage by using movable plates set at inlet and outlet of the passage. The strategy of this active feedback control is based on the flow-control which cancels the exciting fluid force acting on the web, i.e., cancels the self-excited feedback mechanism. In this paper, suppression of the web flutter by the active feedback control is demonstrated experimentally. In the experiments, a web (film), as a controlled object, is subjected to air flow in a narrow passage. The web flutter occurs to the web in the translational motion over the critical flow velocity. And the web flutter is actively controlled and suppressed by the movable plate motion which changes the air flow in the passage. The critical flow velocity under controlled condition is examined with changing the controller gain and phase-shift between the web motion and the movable plate motion. As a result, it is indicated that the active feedback control increases the critical flow velocity, and suppress the web flutter effectively. Moreover, the control performance is examined experimentally, and stabilization mechanism by the active feedback control is discussed.