SPACE-TIME SPECTRAL ELEMENT METHOD FOR OPTIMAL SLEWING OF A FLEXIBLE BEAM

A new computational approach to modelling and control of a flexible beam is proposed. The structural modelling and the control design problems are formulated in a unified mathematical framework that allows simultaneous structural and control design iterations that result in an optimal overall system performance. The method employs the space-time spectral elements for simultaneous space and time discretizations of a Timoshenko beam model. Dimensionless equations of motion are derived using Hamilton’s principle of variable action and an integral formulation in the framework of space-time spectral elements is introduced. An optimal control problem formulated for the continuum model is transformed by the space-time spectral element formulation into an optimization problem in a finite-dimensional parameter space. Dynamic programming is then used to obtain both open and closed loop control laws. A simulation study shows good performance of the control law applied to the nominal model. It is also demonstrated that proper discretization yields performance robustness of the system with respect to modal truncation.