Vibration control of a single-link flexible composite manipulator

The use of lighter manipulators reduces the power consumption and increases payload-to-weight ratio. Composite manipulators can be preferred for this aim due to their properties such as light weight and high strength. Using lighter manipulators causes vibrations due to their flexibility. Flexibility affects the end-point positioning accuracy and repeatability of manipulators in high speed engineering applications. In this study, a single-link flexible composite manipulator is considered to analyze in ANSYS and reduce end-point vibrations. The finite element vibration analysis is performed and an experimental system is introduced to verify simulation results. [0/90] and [45/-45] lay-ups, trapezoidal and triangular velocity profiles are studied by creating cases for different stopping positions and motion times. The time intervals of the motion profiles are determined from the natural frequency of the composite manipulator. Residual vibrations which occur after stopping the movement of the manipulator are obtained and the root-mean-square (RMS) values of these signals are calculated. It is observed from the results that the first vibration mode dominates to reduce the residual amplitudes. The lowest RMS values are achieved for various cases if the time interval is selected so that the deceleration time equals to the inverse of the first natural frequency. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.