Combined structural and control optimization of flexible structures

The design of actively controlled structures is considered with constraints on the damping parameters of the closed loop system. The cross sectional areas of the members are treated as design variables. The purpose of control is to effectively suppress structural vibrations due to initial excitations. Starting with a baseline structural design, the objective of the integrated structural/control optimization is to produce a light weight structure with reduced vibrational and control energy content (when excited). The structural weight and the controlled system energy are considered as objective functions for minimization. The effect of using different control weighting matrices, constraints, and objective functions in optimization is illustrated through numerical simulations using two truss structures.