2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012
Semi-Active Tuned Mass Damper for Vibration
Control in High-Tech Fab
Shih-Ming Chen, C.F. Hung, Luh-Maan Chang, Shu-Hua Chang, J.H. Zeng, and T.R. Lu
AbstractReducing the vibration effect of high power
mechanical systems on plant output will be one of the major
challenges of next generation high-tech fabs. The operating
frequencies of high power mechanical systems applied in high-tech
fab change according to workload phase. To reduce the vibration
effect, a new semi-active tuned mass damper (SATMD) is proposed
and studied in this paper. The developed SATMD allows easy
adjustment on the fundamental natural frequency of the damper
semi-actively according to operating frequency of the main
mechanical system in order to achieve optimal condition on vibration
control. The equation for predicting the near-optimum length of
cantilever beam with addition of an end mass at the free tip for
vibration control was also developed and tested in the case study.
Keywordssemi-active tuned mass damper, TMD,
SATMD
I. INTRODUCTION
V IBRATION is a major source of contamination in facility
of semiconductor fab and can have disastrous effects on
plant output [1]. It is therefore imperative that new fabs are
designed to appropriate vibration specifications to extend
useful life while providing a stable platform for chip making
and to accommodate future tool generations [2]. The
development of sophisticated high-tech technologies requires
the application of high power mechanical systems. However,
the vibration criteria for processing tools are more stringent
than before. Therefore, reducing the vibration effect of high
power mechanical systems on plant output will be one of the
major challenges of next generation high-tech fabs.
The systems used to reduce the vibration effect can be
classified into two major types including vibration absorber
and vibration isolator. Although the resonance of the operating
frequency of high power mechanical system in high-tech fabs
and main structural system should be avoided, the vibration
level need be reduced as low as possible, and absorption of
vibration energy of mechanical system in non-resonant
Shih-Ming Chen, Ph.D., Columbia Univ., New York, NY 10027, USA.
(corresponding author; e-mail: sc489@caa.columbia.edu ;
smchen489@gmail.com).
C.F. Hung, Professor, National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan (e-mail:
hungef@ntu.edu.tw).
Luh-Maan Chang, Professor, National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan (e-mail:
luhchang@ntu.edu.tw).
Shu-Hua Chang, Ph.D., National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan (e-mail:
farrahchang@ntu.edu.tw).
J.H. Zeng, Master Student, National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan
T.R. Lu, Master Student, National Taiwan Univ., Taiwan
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condition should be taken into consideration.
Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) or tuned vibration absorbers
are narrowband vibration treatment devices commonly used for
dampening the vibration of a structure at a particular resonant
frequency with various levels of success. A TMD most
commonly consists of a small mass, compared to the structure,
and a suspension mechanism comprised of a spring and a
damper. It is tuned to counteract the structure motions when the
structure is in resonance with the small mass.
The advantages of passive TMD are simple, inexpensive and
reliable to suppress the undesired vibrations of systems.
However, the very narrow band of suppression frequency, the
ineffective reduction of non-stationary vibration, and the
sensitivity problem due to detuning are the inherent limitations
of the passive TMD [3,4]. It has been reported that the passive
TMD with an actuator, which is known as the active tuned mass
damper (ATMD) or hybrid mass damper, can considerably
enhance the TMDs effectiveness [5].
Although the ATMD demonstrates superior performance
than the best possible passive system, the active system is more
costly, more complex and needs careful maintenance. This
makes it less reliable than the passive system. Recognizing the
performance benefits as well as the limitations of active
systems, the concept of a semi-active mass damper has been
introduced [6]. Semi-active dampers require simpler hardware
and have lower power requirements thus reducing operational
costs. These devices can provide variable damping and/or
stiffness and have been used for vibration reduction of
mechanical and civil engineering structures [7,8,9,10,11]. In
addition, a tuned vibration neutralizer system(TVN) is
introduced to reduce the vibration level induced by the
mechanical system for non-resonant condition[12].
The operating frequencies of high power mechanical
systems applied in high-tech fab change according to workload
phase. To reduce the vibration effect of high power mechanical
systems on high-tech fab output, a new semi-active tuned mass
damper (SATMD) is proposed. The system reduced the
vibration level induced by high power mechanical systems not
only for resonant condition but also for non-resonant condition.
II. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYTICAL MODELING OF THE PROPOSED
DEVICE
A. Fundamentals Of A Tuned Mass Damper
The equivalent dynamic properties for the proposed SATMD
can be represented by a single degree of freedom system
 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012

(SDOF). The primary mechanical system can be represented

with an equivalent mass (m 1 ), stiffness (k 1 ) and damping (c 1 ) (3)
by another SDOF as shown in Fig. 1. The maximum response where F 0 is the excitation force and is the excitation force
acceleration occurs when the frequency of the excitation force circular frequency.
coincides with the natural frequency of the primary mechanical
system, and the maximum response acceleration is given by Eq.
(4)
(1) [13].
F0
x1 = (1)
2 1m1
The addition of the proposed SATMD converts the primary
mechanical system into a two-degree-of-freedom system as
illustrated in Fig. 2.
The equations of motion for the converted two degrees of
freedom system are
m1 0 x1 c1 + c 2 c 2 x1
0 m2 c2
c 2
+
x2 x 2
k 1 + k 2 k 2 x1 F 1(t )
+ =
k 2 x 2 0
(2)
k2 Fig. 3 Example showing the effects of attaching a TMD to an SDOF
where m 1 , k 1 , c 1 , m 2 , k 2 , and c 2 are mass, stiffness, damping system
of primary mechanical system, and equivalent mass, stiffness, B. Description Of The Proposed Device
damping of the proposed SATMD, respectively. x1 , x 1 , and
The proposed SATMD can provide variable stiffness and
x1 are acceleration, velocity, and displacement of primary damping for vibration control at different operating frequency
mechanical system, respectively. x2 , x 2 , and x 2 are of high power mechanical systems semi-actively. As shown in
acceleration, velocity, and displacement of the proposed Fig.4, the proposed SATMD includes a TMD, a sensor system
SATMD, respectively. and a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control system.
The proposed TMD mainly includes an extendable cantilever
beam and an end mass. Different extension length of the
cantilever beam will provide different stiffness, and
combinations of different materials used in cantilever beam
will provide different damping. The proposed sensor system
includes an accelerometer, which is used to measure the
vibration acceleration of vibration platform caused by different
operating frequency of motor, and an ultrasonic range finder,
Fig. 1 Schematic of an SDOF system which is used to measure the distance from one fixed end to the
end mass. The proposed PID control system includes an
actuator and a PID controller, which is used to adjust extension
length of the cantilever beam according to vibration
accelerations of vibration platform.

Fig. 2 Schematic of a two DOF system

The primary mechanical system is subjected to a force, F 1 (t)
= F 0 ei t. The response acceleration of the primary
Fig. 4 The proposed SATMD
system x1 can be found by solving Eq. (2), resulting in the
C. Analytical Modeling Of The Proposed Device
expression presented by Eq. (3) [14]. The system resonates at The optimum natural frequency of the damper (f 2 ) is defined
both splitting frequencies as shown in Eq. (4) [14]. Fig. 3 is an by Eq. (5) :
example showing the effects of attaching a TMD to an SDOF
system.
f1
f2= (5)
1+

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 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012

where f 1 is the natural frequency of the primary mechanical of the vibration platform for different mass ratios and different
system, and is the mass ratio as defined by Eq. (6): cantilever beam lengths were obtained as shown in Fig. 6. The
m2 vibration acceleration reduced by the proposed SATMD for
= (6) different mass ratios and different cantilever beam lengths were
m1 obtained as shown in Fig. 7. The optimal lengths of the
The natural frequency of a cantilever beam damper can be cantilever beam for both experimental and analytical work
calculated as: were obtained as shown in Table I.
1 k2
f2= (7)
2 m2
where k 2 and m 2 are the effective stiffness and effective mass
of the cantilever beam damper respectively.
The stiffness k 2 of a cantilever beam damper can be
estimated as shown in Eq. (8):
3EI
k2= (8)
L3 Fig. 5 The proposed SATMD attached to a vibration platform
where EI is the flexural rigidity of the cantilever beam damper,
(m/s2)
and L is the length of the cantilever beam damper, respectively.
The effective mass of a uniform cantilever beam damper can be
estimated as:
33
m2= AL + mend (9)
140
where and A are mass density and cross-sectional area of the
cantilever beam damper respectively, and m end is the end mass
at the free tip of the cantilever beam damper. The combinations
of different end mass and different cantilever beam length cantilever beam length (cm)

allow adjustment of different fundamental frequencies of Fig. 6 The maximum accelerations of the vibration platform
cantilever beam damper, and lead to optimum design. The
optimal length of the cantilever beam damper can be calculated cantilever beam length (cm)

from Eq. (10) obtained from Eqs. (5)-(9).

33 3(1 + ) EI
2

A L4 + mend L3 =0 (10)
140 4 2 f1
2

III. APPLICATION OF THE PROPOSED DEVICE

Prototype of the proposed SATMD was constructed and
tested to demonstrate the application and modeling of the new
cantilever beam damper. Two cases study are presented below
db
which covers both experimental and analytical work. reduced

Fig. 7 The vibration acceleration reduced by the proposed SATMD

A. Case Study
The case study was performed on a vibration platform as TABLE I OPTIMAL LENGTHS OF THE CANTILEVER BEAM
shown in Fig. 5. The width and thickness of cantilever beam of
the proposed SATMD are 38.66 mm and 8.1mm respectively. Optimal Optimal
End
The fundamental frequency of the primary mechanical system Length Length error
Mass
is 3.49 Hz. From Tests From Eq. (%)
The maximum acceleration of the vibration platform, (g)
(cm) (10) (cm)
measured by accelerometer, was 0.0032 m/s2 when the motor
0.00894 954 35.5 36.3 2.14%
was operated at 3.49 Hz without installing the proposed
0.0134 1404 33.5 32.7 -2.47%
SATMD. Four different mass ratios were tested in this case
study to examine the effectiveness of the proposed SATMD 0.01787 1854 30.5 30.2 -1.00%
and find out the optimal length of the cantilever beam, they are 0.02234 2304 28.5 28.3 -0.54%
0.00894, 0.01340, 0.01787 and 0.02234 respectively. When the B. Non-resonant case study
proposed SATMD was installed on the vibration platform and
In some case the floor vibration level due forced vibration of
the motor was operated at 3.49 Hz, the maximum accelerations
high power mechanical system is higher than resonance of local

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 2nd International Conference on Mechanical, Production and Automobile Engineering (ICMPAE'2012) Singapore April 28-29, 2012
structure. In this case, the reduction of non-resonant vibration
was taken into account. The semi-active damper was tuned to
reducing the vibration greatly even though it is at non-resonant
frequency. The main system frequency response with TMD is
shown in Fig. 8(b), and Fig. 8(b) show the absorber operates in
non-resonant frequency, there may be both good effect and bad
effect., and the good side is worth to use.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 8 The effect of TMD at non-resonant frequency (test)
(a) without TMD; (b) With TMD in non-resonant condition.
The mass of TMD was set 1% of the main system. Figure 9(a)
shows the combined frequency response curve for different
fundamental natural frequency of TMD. Figure 9(b) shows
SATMD adjusts in optimum natural frequency depends on
operating frequency of main system, the vibration level of main
system can be reduced remarkably.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 9 The frequency response of main system (a)the result of
tuning frequency at every frequency; (b) envelope of optimal reducing
effect.
224
IV. CONCLUSION
A new semi-active tuned mass damper (SATMD) was
developed according to the modeling proposed in this paper.
The developed SATMD allows easy adjustment on the
fundamental frequency of the damper semi-actively according
to operating frequency of the primary mechanical system in
order to achieve optimal efficiency on vibration control.
The equation for predicting the near-optimum length of
cantilever beam with addition of an end mass at the free tip for
vibration control was developed. The predicted lengths were in
excellent agreement with the test results in terms of damping
ratios and natural frequency of the primary mechanical system.
The errors in the optimal lengths of cantilever beam between
the predicted and measured values all are below 2.5%.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Funding from the National Science Council (NSC
100-2622-E-002-018-CC2) of Taiwan is gratefully
acknowledged..
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