Analytical Prediction and Experimental Validation for Longitudinal Control of Cable Oscillations

The paper summarizes the knowledge acquired from the analytical studies and the experimental implementation of a longitudinal non-collocated control strategy for the reduction of cable oscillations. The control is introduced by imposing a longitudinal action at one support based on the knowledge of transverse displacements and velocities of a few selected points. A spatially one-dimensional continuous model of a suspended cable has been used to describe the main features of the non-collocated longitudinal active control strategy. A discrete modal representation has permitted the introduction of suitable non-linear state-feedback controllers. The results have been used to derive an implementable strategy, based on direct output feedback, which preserves the main previous control features. A physical model of an actively controlled cable has been used to demonstrate the control effectiveness of the proposed strategy through a large campaign of experiments, conducted in various frequency ranges and amplitude levels including meaningful external resonance conditions. The responses predicted by the analytical model and the experimental results show good qualitative agreement with one another, in both the uncontrolled and controlled experienced cable dynamics.