Sliding-Mode Control Algorithm for a Hard-Mounted Isolation System

It is well known that the trend of current technology development is microscopic and ultra-precision, especially in the areas of semiconductor manufacturing, ultra-precision machining, MEMS, microbiology and nanotechnology. Hence, vibration becomes a significant problem in those fields. There are two types of vibration control techniques. One is passive isolation system; the other is active isolation system. Passive isolation system can provide better performance for higher frequencies. Active isolation system is used to improve the isolation performance for lower frequencies. However, passive isolation system has bad performance around the natural frequency. In addition, it cannot eliminate the effects of onboard disturbances. Therefore, active isolation system becomes the major technology in the applications of microvibration control for precision equipment. In practice, all active isolation systems are based upon a hybrid concept, combining a passive isolator for higher frequencies and a servo control system for lower frequencies. This combination allows for two significantly different configurations, which can be categorized as: soft-mounted isolation systems and hard-mounted isolation systems. The soft-mounted systems are inherently insensitive to resonance in the main structure below the isolators. Yet, they are sensitive to resonances in the isolated platform. The hard-mounted systems are extremely stiff and allows for large onboard disturbance forces without excessive motion. However, the major drawback with a hard-mounted system is that vibration isolation performance suffers from the passive-active compromise and is unable to come up to the optimal performance. In this paper, a sliding-mode control algorithm is developed for a hard-mounted isolation system with a piezoactuator. Based on the bounds of environmental vibrations and onboard disturbances, the sliding-mode control algorithm can make the hard-mounted isolation system achieve the optimal and robust performance of low vibration transmissibility and high stiffness. The results are verified by the numerical simulations.