Simple feed-forward active control method for suppressing the shock response of a flexible cantilever beam

In this paper a 'simple' active control method (without using an error sensor and an adaptive algorithm) is proposed for reducing the residual vibration of a flexible cantilever beam excited by a shock impulse. It is assumed that the shock input can be measured and always occurs on the same point of the beam. In this case, it is shown that a much simpler active control strategy than conventional methods can be used if the system is well identified. The proposed method is verified experimentally with consideration of some practical aspects: the control performance with respect to the control point in time and the choice of frequency response function (FRF) estimators to cope with measurement noise. Experimental results show that a large attenuation of the residual vibration can be achieved using the proposed method. (technical note)