A new passive damper coupling the energy dissipative mechanisms of dry friction and piezoelectric shunting circuit is proposed. The idea is to embed the shunted piezoelectric materials to the dry friction dampers at appropriate positions, so that the elastic deformation of the dry friction dampers can be utilized to generate additional damping. Moreover, this provides a more practical way to install the piezoelectric dampers into realistic mechanical systems such as aero-engines. A five Degree-of-freedom (DOFs) lumped system model is introduced to demonstrate the feasibility of such an idea. The damping performance is revealed using the forced response results obtained by the Multi Harmonic Balance Method (MHBM). We show that the coupled damper significantly outperforms the standalone piezoelectric or dry friction dampers. The coupled damper is better than, at least equivalent to, the case where both piezoelectric and dry friction dampers are applied but in uncoupled manner. Eventually, the mechanism of the proposed damper is further explained from the perspective of vibrational mode and energy conversion.

In this paper, an hybrid mass dampers (HMD) and its control law are studied. Based on a optimal tuned mass damper (TMD), it is a one degree of freedom (dof) mass-spring system associated with an electromagnetic system. The passive damping is provided by the coil-magnet combination coupled with a tunable load. The passive resonator has been modify to become “dual”, a second coil-magnet combination has been had on the same dof to create an active part. The control law is a modified velocity feedback with phase compensator. The proposed hybrid system controller is hyperstable and ensure a fail-safe behavior. The HMD is experimentally tested at 1:1 scale. It is carried out on a main structure suspended by flexible blades. The numerical model, with experimental parameters identification, provides good results. Under shock disturbance, experimental results show the ability of this system to react quickly and dissipate energy in comparison with the passive one.

Early research on a new concept for a morphing system based on unit structures or cells containing pressurized fluid is presented in this article. The motivation stems from the desire to achieve 3D smooth variations with multiple degrees of freedom and variations in surface area. Such a cell is composed of a hybrid between elastomeric material and stiffening material, creating an orthotropic system. When connected in a network of cells, the morphing system is highly integrated in terms of the components of the skin, substructure and actuation means. Numerical predictions of small simple prismatic cells show a force and axial strain capability of above 200 N and 14% respectively for typical elastomeric and stiffening materials at 8 bar pressure. PolyJet™ additively-manufactured models of wings show how such actuators can be integrated into aircraft structures, including when 3D geometry is highly challenging. These additively-manufactured models were operated at low pressures in the order of 0.5 bar, and a number of open questions on the design, manufacture and operation of such structures are discussed along with intended future work towards higher grade materials and working pressures.

An origami design pattern is integrated to an active control system through camber morphing for vibration suppression and gust load alleviation in a typical wing section. Origami design parameters are optimized to have high sensitivity in chordwise fold angle and a maximum camber of 10% chord. A LQR controller is used to achieve the desired vibration suppression in a lightly damped aeroelastic system. The desired vibration suppression is achieved with change in camber of below 5% chord for an initial displacement condition induced vibration and less than 1% chord for gust excited vibration. Results also show that camber morphing is effective in suppressing vibration in both pitch and plunge degrees of freedom simultaneously.

Future aircraft wing technology is rapidly moving toward flexible and morphing wing concepts capable to enhance aircraft wing performance in off-design conditions and to reduce operative maneuver and gust loads. However, due to the reduced stiffness, increased mass, and increased degree of freedom (DOF), such mechanical systems require advanced aeroelastic assessments since the early design phases; this appears crucial to properly drive the design of the underlying mechanisms since the conceptual phase by mitigating their impact on the whole aircraft aeroelastic stability. Preliminary investigations have shown that the combined use of adaptive flap tabs and morphing winglets significantly improves aircraft aerodynamic performance in climb and cruise conditions by the order of 6%. Additionally, by adapting span-wise lift distributions to reduce gust solicitations and alleviate wing root bending moment at critical flight conditions, significant weight savings can also be achieved. Within the scope of Clean Sky 2 Airgreen 2 project, flutter and divergence characteristics of a morphing wing design integrating adaptive winglets and flap tabs are discussed. Multi-parametric flutter analyses are carried out in compliance with CS-25 airworthiness requirements (paragraph 25.629, parts (a), (b), (c) and (d)) to investigate static and dynamic aeroelastic stability behavior of the aircraft. The proposed kinematic systems are characterized by movable surfaces, each with its own domain authority, sustained by a structural skeleton and completely integrated with EMA-based actuation systems. For that purpose, a sensitivity analysis was performed taking into account variations of the stiffness and inertial properties of the referred architectures. Such layouts were reduced to a stick-equivalent model which properties were evaluated through MSC-NASTRAN-based computations. The proprietary code SANDY 4.0 was used to generate the aero-structural model and to solve the aeroelastic stability equations by means of theoretical modes association in frequency domain. Analyses showed the presence of critical modal coupling mechanisms in nominal operative conditions as well as in case of system malfunctioning or failure. Design solutions to assure clearance from instabilities were then investigated. Trade-off flutter and divergence analyses were finally carried out to assess the robustness of the morphing architectures in terms of movable parts layout, mass balancing and actuators damping.

This article presents the experimental validation of a Direct Adaptive Control for angular position regulation of a lightweight robotic arm. The robotic arm is single degree-of-freedom (DOF) system, actuated by two Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) wires. The proposed adaptive control is capable of adapting itself to the hysteretic behavior of SMA wires and update its behavior to deal with the changing parameters of the material over time. The closed-loop approach is tested experimentally showing its effectiveness to deal with the highly nonlinear dynamics of the SMA wires. These results are discussed and compared with a classical control approach. The updated design and hardware development and modeling of the robotic arm are shown.

Structural health monitoring (SHM) of high-rate, mechanical systems in dynamically harsh environments presents many challenges over traditional SHM applications. Damage in these systems must be detected and quantified in tens to hundreds of microseconds in order to have sufficient time to react and mitigate damage. The computation speeds and robustness of sliding mode observers (SMOs) for state, parameter, and disturbance estimation for linear and nonlinear systems make them an attractive approach for real-time SHM of high-rate systems. This paper investigates a novel SMO combined with a recursive least squares parameter estimator to detect and track changing system parameters. The observer is simulated on a one degree-of-freedom system with time-varying model parameters to mimic damage. This paper focuses on practical considerations for SMOs for high-rate systems, such as the effects of measurement noise and sampling rates on the estimator’s accuracy and convergence speeds.

Engineering systems subject to high-rate extreme environments can often experience a sudden plastic deformation during a dynamic event. Examples of such systems include civil structures exposed to blast or aerial vehicles experiencing impacts. The change in configuration through deformation can rapidly lead to catastrophic failures resulting in intolerable losses in investments or human lives. A solution is to conduct fast system estimation enabling real-time decisions, in the order of microseconds, to mitigate such high-rate changes. To do so, we propose a model-driven observer coupled with a data-driven adaptive wavelet neural network to provide real-time stiffness estimations to continuously update a system’s model. This real-time system identification method offers adaptability of the system’s parameters to unforeseeable changes. The results of the simulations demonstrate accurate stiffness estimations in milliseconds for three different excitation conditions for a one degree-of-freedom spring, mass, and damper system with variable stiffness.

This paper proposes a novel idea of a combined piezoelectric energy harvesting and torsional vibration absorber for rotating system. In particular, among possible alternative solutions for durable power sources useable in mechanical components, vibration represents a suitable method for the amount of power required to feed a wireless sensor network. For this purpose energy harvesting from structural vibration has received much attention in the past few years. Suitable vibration can be found in numerous mechanical environments including automotive moving structures, household applications, but also buildings and bridges. Similarly, a dynamic vibration absorber (DVA) is one of the most used devices to mitigate the vibration structures. This device is used to transfer the primary structural vibration to the auxiliary system. Thus, vibration energy is effectively localized in the secondary less sensitive structure and it can be harvested. This paper describes the design process of an energy harvesting tuned vibration absorber for rotating system using piezoelectricity components. Instead of being dissipated as heat, the energy of vibration is converted into electricity. The device proposed is designed to mitigate torsional vibrations as a rotational vibration absorber and to harvest energy as a power source for immediate use. The initial rotational multi degree of freedom system is initially reduced in equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems. An optimization method is used for evaluating the optimal mechanical parameters of the initial absorber for the SDOF systems defined. The design is modified for the integration of the active patches without detuning the absorber. In order to estimate the real power generated, a complex storage circuit is implemented. A fixed voltage is obtained as output. Through the introduction of a big capacitor, the energy stored is measured at different frequencies. Finally, the simultaneously achievement of the vibration reduction function and the energy harvesting function is evaluated.

Arthropod animals like scorpions with modular body parts can be an inspiration for a robot’s structure. The design presented here relays on inter-connected origami towers, but could also be easily disassembled. Each origami tower is fully autonomous and at the same time is part of the robot as a whole. The towers are positioned between two platforms that enable modularity. The scorpion’s tale shape is achieved by the varying platform diameter resulting in cone-like form. Each tower is actuated independently to enable multiple degrees of freedom. Maneuvering with separated units, assists in easier reparation as well as replacement. Detaching the towers into separate parts makes this structure develop more precise movements, since every unit will move autonomously. Therefore, having a higher number of separated movements combined leads to a smooth bionic movement. So, the overall hierarchy will be modular contributing to a greater curvature bending of the whole structure. Actuating and maneuvering the robot in the main concept is done by separated electro motors, built in the platform. The basic structure will be built from thick paper with plastic coatings. The thick paper itself is lightweight, but at the same time flexible. To protect the paper towers, double plastic foil is placed as an outer coating which acts as an origami cover. This transparent layer is elastic hence it can follow and support the individual units’ movements. This work is focused on understanding origami towers kinematics and different combinations of inter-connected towers to achieve multiple degrees of freedom. A conceptual model is developed, supported by CAD and mathematical models. At the end a prototype is presented.

A coupled 3 degree-of-freedom contact-aided compliant mechanism called the Forward Swept Compliant Mechanism (FSCM) is designed optimized for coupling orthogonal translational motion. The purpose of this mechanism is to allow desirable wing morphing passively in an ornithopter wing structure to improve free flight pitch agility via sweeping the wing tip forward during downstroke. This new contact-aided compliant mechanism design, based on the coupled three degree of freedom Bend-Twist-and-Sweep Compliant Mechanism, was developed to couple motion in bending to forward sweep during downstroke to destabilize the downstroke, and thereby increasing pitch agility. This is made possible due to an axial rotation of the mechanism, positioning the angled compliant joint such that the axis of deformation is skewed from the lifting direction. A multi-objective optimization problem was formulated and solved using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. The objectives of this optimization were to maximize forward sweep while minimizing bending, twist, peak stress, and mass. During the optimization, 3084 designs were simulated throughout 37 generations. The complete data set from the optimization was used to understand the relationship between each design variable and each objective, as well as in a random forest of regression trees to determine each variable’s importance to each objective. Two designs were chosen and compared for performance tradeoffs, where additional shape change is achieved at the expense of higher peak stress. The first design achieved the desired 2 degrees of forward sweep, and the second design achieved 5 degrees of forward sweep at the expense of larger bending and a higher peak stress.

This paper presents a simulation-based study to investigate the damping properties of a novel piezocomposite, consisting of piezoelectric fiber and epoxy reinforced with randomly orientated double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNT), termed as piezoelectric fiber nano reinforced composite (PFNRC). Authors have observed that the past research dealt with the effect of aligned single walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) on active damping of piezoelectric composite in extension mode (e 13 and e 33 ). It is known from the past research that DWCNT inclusions improve the passive damping of a composite. Therefore, the authors use DWCNT inclusions to study the active-passive damping of the piezoelectric composite, in this article. The random orientation of the DWCNT is considered to replicate the physical composite as it known that aligning CNTs in a single direction is not feasible due to fabrication constraints. A multistep homogenization method involving Method of Cells (MOC) is employed to obtain effective properties of PFNRC. A modified 3D-MOC is used to obtain the effective properties of epoxy matrix with DWCNT inclusions (DWCNT-epoxy), considering the effect of nano particle agglomeration. A 2D-MOC is then implemented with long fiber PZT as the active material and DWCNT-epoxy as the matrix. This procedure is followed for computing the effective material properties of extension (e 33 ) as well as shear (e 15 ) mode of PFNRC, when DWCNT inclusions are added into the epoxy matrix at different weight percentages. The constitutive equations are derived with the help of Maple and simulated in MATLAB. These results are used to compare the active-passive damping performance of the composites using a single degree of freedom damping model, employing Newmark’s numerical integration method. The active damping performance of the composites is evaluated by varying the displacement and velocity gains in a negative feedback system. The main focus of the study is to find the most efficient operating mode of the proposed composite for damping of structural vibrations.

The present study concerns with the performance of a skid landing gear (SLG) system of a rotorcraft impacting the ground at a vertical sink rate of 5.0 m/s. The impact attitude is per chapter 527 of the Airworthiness Manual (AWM) of Transport Canada Civil Aviation and FAR Part 27 of the U.S. Federal Aviation Regulation. A single degree of freedom helicopter model is investigated under two rotor lift factors 0.67 and 1.0. Three Configurations are evaluated: a) A conventional SLG; b) SLG equipped with a passive viscous damper and c) SLG incorporated with a magnetorheological energy absorber. The non-dimensional solutions of the helicopter model show that the passive damper system could reduce the maximum acceleration experienced by the helicopter occupants by 21% and 19.8% in comparison to the undamped system for the above rotor lift factors, respectively. However, the passive damper fails to constrain the non-dimensional energy absorption stroke of the damper within the given 18 cm maximum stroke and a bottoming out of the damper piston was noticed. Therefore, the alternative and successful choice was to employ a magnetorheological energy absorber (MREA). To improve the MREA controllability and to resettle the payload with no oscillations, i.e. in one cycle, two different Bingham numbers for compression stroke and rebound stroke were defined in the non-dimensional solution. Several simulations were conducted for different values of Bingham numbers. Among these numerical simulation results, the solution that implemented the optimum Bingham numbers was found to be the only one feasible solution. In this case the MREA with optimum Bingham number for compression could utilize the full energy absorption stroke to attain soft landing. In the rebound stroke, the generated optimal on-state damping force successfully controls the bounce of the payload until the payload settles down to its original equilibrium position with no oscillations.

This paper presents the modeling, simulation and wind tunnel experimental verification of the aeroelastic behavior of a two-degree-of-freedom (pitch and plunge) typical airfoil section with superelastic shape memory alloy helical springs in the pitch degree-of-freedom. A linearly elastic spring is considered in the plunge degree-of-freedom. Although viscous damping is considered in both degrees-of-freedom, hysteretic damping simultaneously takes place in the pitch degree-of-freedom due to the (stress-induced) pseudoelastic behavior of the shape memory alloy springs. The shape memory alloy phase transformation kinetics and constitutive modeling are based on Brinsons model and the shape memory alloy helical spring behavior is based on classical spring design. The nonlinear effects of shape memory alloy phase transformation are included in the shape memory alloy spring modeling for the representation of hysteretic force-displacement behavior. A two-state linear aerodynamic model is employed to determine the unsteady pitching moment and lift. The aeroelastic behavior of the typical section is numerically and experimentally investigated for different preload levels applied to the shape memory alloys. Numerical predictions and experimental results show that for large enough preload levels (such that shape memory alloy phase transformations take place at small pitch angles) unstable post-flutter regime is replaced by stable limit-cycle oscillations. Moreover, the amplitudes of aeroelastic oscillations decrease with increasing preload levels since more expressive phase transformations are achieved at small pitch angles. Although the amplitudes of the post-flutter limit-cycle oscillations increase with increasing airflow speed (since aerodynamic loads increase with the square of the airflow speed), they remain bounded within acceptable levels over a range of airflow speeds due to hysteretic damping. Moreover, the cutoff airflow speed increases with increasing preload. The experimentally verified results show that the pseudoelastic behavior of shape memory alloy elements can passively enhance the aeroelastic behavior of a typical section.

The technology of swarm intelligence has been applied to a mechanical vibration monitoring system composed of a network of units equipped with sensors and actuators. The expression of “swarm intelligence” was first used in 1988 in the context of cellular robotic systems, where lots of simple agents may generate self-organized patterns through mutual interactions. There are various examples of the swarm intelligence in the natural environment, a swarm of ants, birds or fish. In this sense, the network of agents in a swarm may have some kind of intelligence or higher function than those appeared in a simple agent, which is defined as the swarm intelligence. The concept of swarm intelligence may be applied in diverse engineering fields such as flexible pattern recognition, adaptive control system, or intelligent monitoring system, because some kind of intelligence may emerge on the network without any special control system. In this study, a simulation model of a five degree-of-freedom lumped mass-spring system was prepared as an example of a mechanical dynamic system. Five units composed of a displacement sensor and a variable damper as actuator were assumed to be placed on each mass of the system. Each unit was connected to each other to exchange the information of state variables measured by sensors on each unit. Because the network of units configured as a mutual connected neural network, a kind of artificial intelligence, the network of units may memorize the several expected vibration-controlled patterns and may produce the signal to the actuators on the unit to reduce the vibration of target system. The simulation results showed that the excited vibration was reduced autonomously by selecting the position where the damping should be applied.

Piezocomposite beams are often modeled using linear constitutive equations describing the electromechanical coupling of the material. In nearly all experimental identification processes, nonlinearities in these equations are ignored, which can lead to significant errors in the identified models. Following a common practice in the literature, a piezocomposite cantilever beam is modeled as a single degree of freedom system, with strain induced harmonic excitation governed by linear piezoelectric constitutive relationships. The validity of the linear property assumptions is investigated. It is experimentally demonstrated that the relationship between input and response of the beam is significantly nonlinear. The impact of this nonlinear behavior on the parameter identification of the system is shown for three different testing methods, (1) Open Loop Excitation, (2) Constant Input, and (3) Constant Response. For each method, the command amplitude is varied which yields different parameter estimates for the single degree of freedom beam model. These results demonstrate that the assumed linear constitutive relationships lead to parameter estimates which are only accurate for the specific testing method and the specific commanded input or response amplitude, even under highly controlled testing procedures. The paper concludes with comments on the system identification of a single degree of freedom model given this nonlinear system behavior.

This paper presents a pan-tilt sensor fusion platform for activity tracking and fall-detection which can work as a reliable surveillance system with long-term care function. A low cost thermal array sensor and a distance sensor are integrated together as the sensor module. The sensor module is installed on a pan-tilt orienting mechanism with two rotation degrees of freedom to increase the field of view while reducing the number of sensors used on-board. The performance of the sensor test platform is analyzed. The location of the indoor object as well as its size can be estimated based on a novel sensor fusion algorithm. The support vector machine (SVM) based machine learning algorithm is applied for fall detection. The preliminary experiment result shows a 95% accuracy to identify falling action from similar normal indoor activity such as sitting and picking up stuff.

Parameter estimation of a cantilever beam model typically involves estimating the effective parameters of the system for an assumed mode shape. This shape assumption, which is difficult to verify with traditional single-point sensors, can be validated through the distributed strain measurements available from optical Fiber Bragg Grating sensors. In this paper, the experimental mode shapes of a cantilever beam acquired from Fiber Bragg Grating sensors are compared with the analytical predictions of classical beam theory for the first two bending modes. A single degree of freedom model is also analyzed for the first bending mode and compared to the distributed parameter model and experimental data. It is shown that the distributed parameter model provides a good estimate of the strain profile at the first two natural frequencies, and that the single degree of freedom and distributed parameter models are in close agreement at the first natural frequency.

Material handling is a crucial part of manufacturing and assembly in industry. In state-of-the-art handling systems, robots use various end-effectors to grip and transport different shapes of workpieces. The exchange process of fitted end-effectors to appropriate workpieces, often requires to interrupt the manufacturing process. From the prospective of economic efficiency, there is an inherent benefit creating a reconfigurable end-effector that is able to adjust automatically to different workpiece geometries. In this work a novel end-effector prototype based on shape memory alloys (SMA’s) is developed and experimentally validated. The end-effector prototype has four arms with two SMA driven reconfigurable degrees of freedom (DOF’s) to allow gripping of different workpiece shapes and geometries. Each arm is rotatable by 90 degrees (1. DOF) and uses a counterweight to relieve the SMA wire. The tip of the arm is driven by a separate SMA in a 20 degree range and it has a special locking mechanism to hold different positions without any flowing current. The designs of the actuator constructions are presented and a prototype is produced via rapid-prototyping. Future work will include the characterization of the second DOF and controlling the positions of both DOF’s by using a PID controller based on the SMA self-sensing ability.

Shape memory alloy actuators paired in an antagonistic arrangement can be used to produce mechanisms that replicate human biomechanics. To investigate this proposal, the biomechanical articulation of the elbow by means of the biceps brachii muscle are compared with that of a shape memory alloy actuated arm. Initially, the movement of the human arm is modeled as a single degree of freedom rocker-slider mechanism. Using this model, a purely kinematical analysis is performed on the rigid body rocker-slider. Force analysis follows by modeling the muscle as a simple linear spring. Torque, rocking angle, and energy are calculated for a range of rocker-slider geometries. Actuator characterization of the SMA wire is conducted by experimentally determining the stress-strain curves for the martensite detwinned and full austenite states. Using the experimentally obtained stress-strain curves, nonlinear and linear theoretical actuator characteristic curves are produced for the isolated SMA wire. Using the theoretical actuator characteristic curve on the rocker-slider mechanism, kinematic and force analyses are performed for both the nonlinear and linear actuated mechanisms. To compare to biomechanics, a literature survey is performed on human musculotendon and skeletal lengths and introduced to the kinematic analysis. Examination of biological and mechanical results are then discussed.