Active vibration control of a cantilever beam via distributed optical fiber sensor

We report the use of a distributed optical fiber sensor based on stimulated Brillouin scattering for structural vibration control. In this demonstration, a cantilevered flexible aluminum beam was used as the structure for vibration control. The use of a distributed sensor allows to acquire simultaneously the dynamic strain at several locations. The dynamic strain at one (or more) fiber locations can be used as inputs for a feedback vibration control algorithm. In our tests, a voice-coil, positioned near the fixed end of the cantilever beam, was employed as actuator for the suppression of the first vibrational mode.