Assessment of robust control on damage growth

The past few years have seen significant advances in the fields of structural health monitoring and damage prognosis, particularly in the areas of damage detection and localization. Because of these advances, it is conceivable, for the first time, to design a structure with the ability to detect damage and take corrective action to minimize its effects and slow its progression. This paper evaluates the potential for this damage mitigating control to allow mechanical, aerospace, and civil systems to monitor structural health internally, diagnose any damage, and then take action to intelligently mitigate the effect and progression of the damage. Specifically, damaged and undamaged cantilever beams are studied and a robust controller is used to damp vibration. The trade off between damping performance and increasing the strain at the damaged area, which is correlated with damage growth, is then investigated.