Dynamic analysis of electrical vibration absorbers for suspended cables

The present research proposes two vibration control techniques for attenuating vibration of laboratory-scale suspended cables. The technique is applied to resolve the problems of such high-frequency vibrations as the aeolian vibration. The vibration control device involves an absorber driven by a motor, and the dynamics of the controlled system is investigated numerically considering practical problems. Particular attention is paid to backlash at the driving that influences the effectiveness of control significantly, and to the time response of the controlled system that indicates how quickly the vibration decays after a change in the excitation. One of the proposed controllers involves the implementation of PID technique that enables the significant reduction in the value of cable displacement and acceleration during aeolian vibration, compared to the conventional vibration absorber. An extensive controller has also been proposed based on estimation of cable vibration frequency. The dynamic performance of the controllers is simulated using Simulink. Results also reveals the limitations in the control due to a practical problem like backlash. The main practical benefit from the study is that it provides information about the advantages and disadvantages of the control methodologies, and recommendation may be done for their application without building the controlled system.