Latching control for pendulum tuned mass damper: Theoretical analysis and proof-of-concept experiment

Long-period vibrations are very common in various flexible structures, such as high-rise buildings and floating structures. Inspired by latching-based phase optimization in wave energy converters (WECs), a latching control mechanism is applied to realize long-period vibration control . Based on pendulum tuned mass dampers which are a traditional type of vibration control device, an innovative pendulum latched mass damper (PLMD) is proposed, fabricated, and investigated for the first time in this study. First, the concept of PLMD is introduced, and the theoretical model is established. Second, the mechanism and semi-active control strategies for the proposed PLMD are designed. Third, an innovative bench-scale PLMD system is designed and fabricated, wherein the latching control is achieved by using a permanent magnet (PM) brake. Proof-of-concept experiments and numerical simulations are conducted to examine the characteristics, feasibility, and effectiveness of the proposed PLMD. The effects of different latching strategies and time delay are particularly discussed. The proposed latching control mechanism will offer a new and promising solution to remarkably advance long-period vibration control and adaptive-frequency vibration control for various engineering structures.