Vibration control of structures with uncertainties due to coupled subsystems

Vibrations in dynamical structures, as those encountered for instance in mechanical, aerospace or civil engineering, are often caused by internal or external excitations. One way to attenuate vibrations that can be undesirable for safety or other reasons is by the use of active control systems. This means to use feedback controllers driving actuators at appropriate locations between the structure and its environment. This work considers a specific kind of uncertain excitation due to a temporary coupling of the structure with a second dynamical system which cannot be influenced by actuators controlling the main structure. A linear control scheme is proposed, which is implemented with the feedback of the structure's state only and ensures the existence of a ball of ultimate boundedness. The effectiveness of the control scheme is illustrated by numerical experiments on a model of a bridge platform with crossing vehicles as unknown coupling excitations.