This research project investigates novel vibration control techniques based on the concept of shaping structural eigenvectors to achieve desirable vibration or acoustic response. There are two primary motivating factors of this project one is that passive and semi-active methods do not suffer from the high energy requirements and lower stability margins of active methods, and the other is that eigenvectors which are shaped in a desirable manner provide improved response for response for a wide range of excitations. The field of vibration control has a great deal of attention during the last 15 years and much of it has been directed toward active vibration control. Most research, however, has focused on, (a) active methods which try to alternate the vibration (by damping or cancellation) without regard for power required, (b)passive methods which attempt to maximize a structure's damping, or (c) an intelligent combination of the two. This research shows that eigenstructure assignment methods, which do not focus on either of those approaches, can be very effective in vibration control under a wide range of conditions, and that eigenstructure assignment can work in concert with conventional vibration control methods for better performance with reduced power costs.
