Vibration Control of a Cantilever Beam with a Tip Mass by an Electromagnetic Actuator

The aim of this study is to develop an electromagnetic actuator (EMA) for the vibration control of a cantilever beam with a tip mass. The proposed EMA system consists of an electromagnet and a permanent magnet attached on its top, whereas another permanent magnet is installed at the tip of the cantilever beam. The gravity force is balanced using the repulsive force between the two permanent magnets. The governing equation of the beam vibration coupled with the proposed EMA can be simplified as a bilinear system (BLS). In this study, the PID control, quadratic feedback control and optimal feedback control laws are employed to control the coil currents of electromagnet. Comparisons of experimental results and numerical solutions reveal that vibrations of the cantilever beam are effectively suppressed by using the proposed EMA with all the three control efforts