Development of control systems for fluid-based adaptive impact absorbers

• Published in: Mechanical systems and signal processing Vol. 122; pp. 622 - 641
• Main Authors: Graczykowski, Cezary, Faraj, Rami
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Elsevier Ltd 01.05.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Adaptive control; Adaptive Impact Absorption; Algorithms; Automatic control; Automatic Path Finding; Automatic Path Update; Disturbances; Full kinematic feedback; Hybrid Path Tracking; Impact loads; On-line systems; Path tracking; Pneumatic shock-absorber; Robust control; Robustness; Self-adaptive system; Shock absorbers; Upgrading; Self-adaptive system; Pneumatic shock-absorber; Adaptive Impact Absorption; Full kinematic feedback; Hybrid Path Tracking; Automatic Path Update; Automatic Path Finding
• ISSN: 0888-3270; 1096-1216
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ymssp.2018.12.006

•Detailed study on robustness of adaptive impact absorbing systems is presented.•Novel control system design for high-performance impact absorption is proposed.•Automatic path-planning approach eliminates requirement of impact identification.•Novel Hybrid Path Tracking provides robust realization of the optimal system path.•Superiority of the proposed system over classical adaptive absorbers is proved. The paper presents development, evaluation and comparison of various control systems for adaptive fluid-based absorbers serving for absorption of the impact loading. The investigations concern two competitive approaches: i) standard control systems with single determination of the optimal system path based on identified impact conditions, and ii) newly-developed control systems with on-line determination and update of the system path during the process. It is revealed that low robustness of the standard control systems to imprecise impact identification and unknown disturbances results from the assumed path-determination approach and utilized simple path-tracking methods. The proposed solution to this problem is application of the innovative control systems, which utilize Automatic Path Finding and Automatic Path Update algorithms based on full kinematic feedback as well as Hybrid Path Tracking method dedicated for fluid-based absorbers. The introduced approach to absorber control is used to develop three different self-adaptive systems of increasing complexity and robustness. The favourable capabilities of proposed systems including no need for impact identification, high robustness against force disturbances and reduction of leakages influence are proved. Detailed discussion is presented using the illustrative example of single-chamber adaptive pneumatic shock-absorber mitigating impact loading.