M N Sahinkaya

A review of wave energy converter technology

Abstract Ocean waves are a huge, largely untapped energy resource, and the potential for extracting energy from waves is considerable. Research in this area is driven by the need to meet renewable energy targets, but is relatively immature compared to other renewable energy technologies. This review introduces the general status of wave energy and evaluates the device types that represent current wave energy converter (WEC) technology, particularly focusing on work being undertaken within the United Kingdom. The possible power take-off systems are identified, followed by a consideration of some of the control strategies to enhance the efficiency of point absorber-type WECs. There is a lack of convergence on the best method of extracting energy from the waves and, although previous innovation has generally focused on the concept and design of the primary interface, questions arise concerning how best to optimize the powertrain. This article concludes with some suggestions of future developments.

Vibration control of multi-mode rotor-bearing systems

This paper presents a computationally fast and efficient least-squares method to minimize the vibration of any general rotor-bearing system by the application of external control forces. The D-optimality concept is used to optimize the force locations. The proposed method provides a wide range of statistical information, and the sensitivity of the optimum response to changes in the control forces. Magnetic bearings can be applied to implement the open-loop adaptive vibration control strategies outlined in the paper. These components can also be used to inject a multi-frequency test signal as required for identification studies.

Active vibration control of flexible rotors: an experimental and theoretical study

This paper develops the authors’ earlier work on vibration control of multi-mode rotor-bearing systems. It shows how a single magnetic actuator can be used to estimate system characteristics and apply the optimum control force needed to minimize synchronous vibration. In the application considered here, a rotor is supported on oil-film bearings. The algorithm determines the optimum control force without prior knowledge of the bearing or rotor characteristics or the distribution of out-of-balance forces. A rig is described and used to illustrate the application of the theoretical work.

Fault identification in rotor/magnetic bearing systems using discrete time wavelet coefficients

A method of online fault identification in rotor/magnetic bearing systems is presented using wavelet analysis. A filter bank approach is taken to identify the discrete time wavelet coefficients of the rotor displacement signals. From artifacts present in the discrete time wavelet series associated with specific faults, it is shown that it is possible to identify both the onset time and the fault type. This method is demonstrated for simulations of a flexible rotor/active magnetic bearing assembly during auxiliary bearing contact and direct synchronous forcing for a range covering flexible critical speeds. Experimental validation was performed on a flexible rotor/active magnetic bearing facility undergoing sudden rotor unbalance, resulting in rotor orbits with and without auxiliary bearing contact. Artifacts associated with both the sudden mass loss and the rotor/bearing contact are identified.

Multiple Sliding and Rolling Contact Dynamics for a Flexible Rotor/Magnetic Bearing System

Active magnetic bearings (AMBs) offer contact-free and frictionless support of rotating machinery. However, because of their limited force capacity, they have to incorporate retainer bearings to protect the rotor and stator laminations against high-amplitude vibration levels. Efficient modeling of contact dynamics is important for the design of adaptive controllers to prevent contact. If, however, contact does occur, it is necessary to recover the rotor position with minimum damage and without shutting down the system. This paper utilizes constrained Lagrangian equations of motion to develop a computationally efficient method to model contact dynamics. The method does not require a direct physical modeling of contact forces, although the contact forces are automatically evaluated from the constraint conditions, and it can be applied to multicontact cases. Furthermore, the technique is capable of detecting and simulating the destructive backward whirl rolling motion. A model reduction technique is introduced to improve the computational efficiency. This is demonstrated by comparing numerical predictions with experimental results, obtained for a 2-m-long flexible rotor supported by two magnetic bearings

Towards fault-tolerant active control of rotor-magnetic bearing systems

Abstract This paper considers a control system design for a rotor–magnetic bearing system that integrates a number of fault-tolerant control methods. A survey is undertaken of possible system failure modes which are classified according to whether they are internal or external to the magnetic bearing control system. Improved tolerance to specific external faults is achieved through multivariable controller design with H ∞ optimised disturbance rejection criteria. Tolerance to internal faults requires the integration of additional control sub-systems, including a fault detection algorithm and a supervisory algorithm to reconfigure control on occurrence of a fault. Experimental results obtained from a flexible rotor system are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control implementations.

Input shaping for vibration-free positioning of flexible systems

Abstract Input shaping is a simple and effective method for reducing the residual vibration when positioning lightly damped systems, and it remains an active research area. In this paper, a continuous and differentiable function is introduced to define the desired motion, and then the input is shaped by inverse dynamic analysis. In the proposed method the only parameter that needs to be defined is the output speed, which is limited only by the physical constraints of the drive system. The calculation of an optimum speed is demonstrated by simulation examples. It is also shown that, under certain circumstances, the process can be further simplified and the need for inverse dynamics is eliminated.

Inverse dynamic analysis of multiphysics systems

Abstract An object-oriented approach to dynamic simulation and analysis of multidomain, multiphysics systems is developed. Lagrangian dynamics and a novel numerical differentiation technique are used by the simulation engine to develop automatically the equations of motion from energy expressions, which can incorporate multidomain, multiphysics components. The same modelling methodology is used for both forward and inverse dynamic analysis. Different methods are presented for the solution of inverse dynamic problems, depending on how the desired motion and the control inputs are defined. A graphical approach is developed to test for the structural invertibility of a system for a particular choice of control inputs. A multistage inversion technique is introduced for systems where structural non-invertibility is due to a mismatch of the equation orders. The techniques developed for system inversion are demonstrated by simulated examples.

Fault detection and tolerance in synchronous vibration control of rotor-magnetic bearing systems

Abstract The use of magnetic bearings in rotating machinery provides contact-free rotor support, and allows vibration control using both closed-loop and open-loop strategies. One of the simplest and most effective methods to reduce synchronous lateral vibration when using magnetic bearings is through an open-loop adaptive control technique, in which the amplitude and phase of synchronous magnetic control forces are adjusted automatically to minimize the measured vibrations along the rotor. However, transducer malfunction, or faults in the signal-processing channels, may cause the controller to adapt incorrectly, with unwanted and possibly catastrophic effects. It is shown that an extension to the control strategy, which utilizes the variances of the measured system response and identified parameters, enables the faults to be detected and accounted for so that a modified control action can achieve continued and effective control of the synchronous vibration. The approach is extended further to identify changes in external factors, such as unbalance and rotor dynamics. Various faults and perturbations are examined experimentally, and the ability of the controller to detect and compensate for these changes is demonstrated.

An adaptive squeeze-film bearing

This paper examines the effect of controlling the oil supply pressure to squeeze-film bearings in applications where these elements are used to provide damping for a light flexible transmission shaft having an arbitrary unbalance mass distribution. The shaft length and diameter selected for the study are typical of those used for helicopter tail rotor transmissions. A computer simulation is undertaken to study the effect of a squeeze-film damper located at: 1) The end supports. 2) Mid-span with undamped end supports. 3) Mid-span with damped end supports. The simulation shows that in this type of application, good vibration control can be achieved by using a squeeze-film damper which is capable of switching between two levels of damping. The feasibility of attaining such a characteristic is examined experimentally.