Appl. Math. Mech. -Engl. Ed.

, 43(10), 1485–1502 (2022)

APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS (ENGLISH EDITION)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-022-2905-6

Design and experiment of an adaptive dynamic vibration absorber

with smart leaf springs∗

Xiangying GUO1 , Yunan ZHU1 , Yegao QU2 , Dongxing CAO1,†

1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Nonlinear Vibrations and Strength of Mechanical Structures, College of
Mechanical Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai 200240, China
(Received Mar. 1, 2022 / Revised Jul. 12, 2022)

Abstract An adaptive dynamic vibration absorber (ADVA) is designed for low-

frequency vibration suppression. The leaf springs are applied as the tuning stiffness
elements. The principle of variable stiffness is analyzed to obtain the effective range of
the first natural frequency variation. A classic simply supported manipulator is selected
as the controlled system. The coupled dynamic model of the manipulator-ADVA system
is built to obtain the maximum damping efficiency and the vibration absorption capacity
of the designed ADVA. An experimental platform is set up to verify the theoretical results.
It is revealed that the ADVA can adjust the first natural frequency on a large scale by
changing the curvature of the leaf springs. The amplitude of the manipulator is reduced
obviously with the installation of the designed ADVA. Finally, based on the short-time
Fourier transformation (STFT), a stepwise optimization algorithm is proposed to achieve
a quick tuning of the natural frequency of the ADVA so that it can always coincide with
the frequency of the prime structure. Through the above steps, the intelligent frequency
tuning of the ADVA is realized with high vibration absorption performance in a wide
frequency range.
Key words stiffness tuning, adaptive dynamic vibration absorber (ADVA), leaf spring,
vibration control
Chinese Library Classification O342
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification 74K10

1 Introduction

Low-frequency vibration suppression is a challenging issue in engineering because it generates

high vibration energy and causes considerable deformation and damage to the structure and

∗ Citation: GUO, X. Y., ZHU, Y. N., QU, Y. G., and CAO, D. X. Design and experiment of an
adaptive dynamic vibration absorber with smart leaf springs. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics
(English Edition), 43(10), 1485–1502 (2022) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-022-2905-6
† Corresponding author, E-mail: caostar@bjut.edu.cn
Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 11772010 and
11832002) and the State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration of China
(No. MSV202004)
c
°The Author(s) 2022
1486 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

environment[1–3] . Therefore, dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) consisting of spring-mass-

damper systems are developed to attenuate the structure vibration[4–6] . Although these vibra-
tion absorbers can absorb vibration energy from the primary systems, they have the drawbacks
of structural instability, poor low-frequency vibration reduction effects, and weak self-tuning
ability[7–9] .
To solve these conundrums, nonlinear mechanics have been introduced into the studies on
DVAs[10] . Bonello et al.[11] designed a piezoelectric semi-active vibration absorber consisting
of nonlinear stiffness elements of parallel curved beams. Kumbhar et al.[12] combined a shape
memory alloy with a magnetorheological elastomer to form the nonlinear stiffness tuning ele-
ments of the resultant absorber. Luo et al.[13] and Shi et al.[14] proposed inerter-based DVAs.
Hu and Chen[15] designed four different interter-based DVAs (IDVAs) together with a spring to
the traditional DVA. Another recently developed absorber is the nonlinear tuned vibration ab-
sorber (NLTVA). Detroux et al.[16] combined several methods of nonlinear dynamics to enlarge
the safe operation region of an NLTVA by increasing the mass ratio.
Meanwhile, nonlinear energy sinks (NESs) have also been proposed to improve the vibration
control performance[17–24] . Zhang et al.[25] designed an inertial NES to suppress the shortcom-
ings of quasi-zero stiffness systems, and deduced a combined vibration control technique based
on nonlinear vibration isolation and absorption. Benacchio et al.[26] designed a magnetic vi-
bration NES absorber by changing its geometrical parameters. Chen et al.[27] proposed a
non-smooth NES with descending stiffness, and designed an absorber with permanent magnets,
discontinuous oscillators, and linear springs. NESs manifest a better damping performance
at small vibration amplitudes because their nonlinearity generates high-frequency vibration
components for coupled systems, such as periodic bifurcation, inverse periodic, and chaotic
vibration[28] .
Despite the nonlinear mechanism’s ability to extend the attenuation frequency bandwidth,
the nonlinear DVA is still unable to absorb low-frequency vibrations over a wide bandwidth[29] .
To solve such dynamic stability problems, numerous ways of variable stiffness for DVAs have
been put forward[30–36] . Walsh and Lamancusa[37] designed a variable stiffness device by chang-
ing the span between two elastic beams with a stepper motor. Ghorbani-Tanha et al.[38] created
a circular configuration system with a variable stiffness. Kidner and Brennan[39] considered the
effects of different spring shapes and structures on the stiffness of a vibration absorber, and
established a relationship between the stiffness and span of each structure. Nagaya et al.[40]
designed a cantilever-shaped absorber, and changed the effective length of the cantilever by
changing the position of the support point at the fixed end. Wu and Lan[41] proposed a vari-
able stiffness mechanism with the asymmetric rotation of two parallel connected springs. When
the vertical sliding block moved in the vertical direction, the spring rotated in the sliding groove
to realize the variable stiffness mechanism.
Multifarious control strategies have been developed for adaptive dynamic vibration absorbers
(ADVAs). Kidner and Brennan[39] applied a fuzzy control algorithm to simultaneously control
the stiffness and damping of a mechanical self-tuning absorber. Li et al.[36] proposed a control
method based on the anti-resonance principle, and analyzed the absorption effect by comparing
the vibration amplitudes before and after changing the stiffness of an absorber. Nagarajaiah[42]
introduced the short-time Fourier transformation (STFT) to identify the responses of domi-
nant frequencies and retune the semi-active mass dampers with a variable stiffness. Peng and
Gong[43] studied an optimum variable step-size control strategy to adjust the natural frequen-
cies of absorbers. In these control strategies, the control systems focus on the accuracy of signal
acquisition and the processing of prime systems and vibration absorbers. In addition, it is also
necessary to consider the influence of the best absorption frequency shift caused by damping
and use other evaluation indicators to adjust the natural frequencies of an absorber.
This paper mainly focuses on the design of a novel ADVA for low-frequency vibration ab-
sorbers from 10 Hz to 50 Hz. Here, a smart circular array with multi-leaf springs is proposed as
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1487

the ADVA. The effects of the structural parameters on the characteristics of variable stiffness
is analyzed in detail based on vibration experiment. The adaptive control algorithm is also
developed to realize automatic tuning of the proposed ADVA, which can benefit the low- and
broadband-frequency vibration absorption.
The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, an ADVA is proposed
to broaden the frequency bandwidth for low-frequency vibration absorption. In Section 3,
the dynamic responses of the coupled ADVA and a manipulator are analyzed to optimize the
parameters of the ADVA. In Section 4, a prototype of the designed ADVA is fabricated to verify
the theoretical results by experiment. In Section 5, an intelligent control algorithm is used to
realize the adaptive frequency adjustments for the ADVA. The conclusions are then presented
in Section 6.

2 Design of the ADVA

In nature, inchworms create motions by clasping their thoracic legs, resulting in an omega-
shaped arching body. This movement is similar to the compression and extension of a spring[44] .
Inspired by the crawling of inchworms in nature (see Fig. 1(a)), an ADVA is designed to suppress
10 Hz–50 Hz vibration (see Fig. 1(b)). The designed ADVA is composed of a circular array of
eight leaf springs. Every two springs are connected by pins and attached to a support and a
slide block. A circular mass is fixed at the connection point of every two springs to expend
energy (a total of eight circular masses are used). Moreover, four cylindrical rods act as guides
to allow linear movements for the slide block under the drive of an electric motor.
Support block Screw rod
Leaf spring
Guide rod

Mass

Slide block

Step motor

(a) (b)

Fig. 1 (a) Design inspiration and (b) three-dimensional model for the ADVA (color online)

The slide block can adjust its position on a screw rod under the drive of the electric motor.
The curvature of each leaf spring is easily controlled under supported boundary conditions. The
variation range of the absorber stiffness is analyzed by the vibration theory proposed by Bonello
et al.[11] . Each leaf spring of the ADVA is considered as a simple supported elastic beam (see
Fig. 2(a)). The beam is in the form of a circular arc with a length of S and an angle of 2α at
the center. Besides, the beam has an initial curvature, and is subjected to a compressive load
P along its span. The deformation at the loaded end for the beam is u.
Hence,
P u
Pe = , u
e= , (1)
PEl S
where PEl is the Euler buckling load of a straight beam under the same length (PEl = π 2 EI/l2 ,
in which E is Young’s modulus and I is the second moment of the area at the cross-section of
the beam).
1488 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

A A A
y l
α α+dα l+
dl dx Undeformed
1
wi w M C
h
l S l S dy
D
H
N l Deformed
l2 P
l−d
C B
C u kdl1 kdl2 kdl1
P
kdl2
P P
(a) (b)

Fig. 2 (a) Curved beam structure in two states and (b) principle of the variable stiffness, where l is
the distance between the two ends of the leaf spring, α and α + dα are the angles between the
simply supported end and the tangent line when the beam is unloaded and loaded with the
force P , w and wi are the profiles of the beam, H is the height of the beam center point, and
h is the span of the ADVA (color online)

The circular profile of the arch is approximated by a sinusoidal function as follows:

πy
wi = H sin . (2)
l
Hence, the deformed profile of the beam can be expressed as
PEl πy
w=H sin . (3)
PEl − P l
If ξ(y) is the initial displacement of a point in the y-direction,

(δs)2 = (δwi )2 + (δy)2 = (δw)2 + (δy + δξ)2 .

¡ δξ ¢2
Now, neglect the quadratic term δy , and then let

δξ 1 ³³ dwi ´2 ³ dw ´2 ´
≈ − . (4)
δy 2 dy dy

Further, substituting Eqs. (2) and (3) into Eq. (4) and integrating the resultant equation
from y = 0 to y = l yield

u π 2 ³ H ´2 ³³ P ´−2 ´
= 1− −1 . (5)
l 4 l PEl
Then, substitute the following equations into Eq. (5):

P ³ l ´2 H ³ H ´³ S ´ ³ u ´³ l ´
= Pe , = , u
e= , (6)
PEl S l S l l S
where H/S = (1 − cos α)/(2α), and

l 1
= sin α. (7)
S α
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1489

The non-linear relationship between Pe and u e for a slender beam can be expressed as
π 2 ³ 1 − cos α ´2 α ³³ ³1 ´2 ´−2 ´
u
e= 1 − Pe sin α −1 . (8)
4 2α sin α α
According to Karl’s theorem, the relationship between Pe and u
e without nonlinearity can be
expressed as

Pe 16α3
= 2 . (9)
u
e π (4α − 3 sin(2α) + 2α cos(2α))

Figure 3 shows the nonlinear and linear relationships between Pe and u e under different α
values of the leaf spring. It is noticeable that the larger the angle α, the smaller the stiffness
of the bent spring and the better its linearity. When α = 90◦ , the red and black dashed lines
almost overlap, and thus the spring can be regarded as a linear spring at this point. As the
linear spring model can avoid the difficulties for the design and solution, α = 90◦ is selected.
1.0
Linear Nonlinear
α = 30° α = 30°
0.6 α = 60° α = 60°
α = 90° α = 90°
0.2
P

−0.2

−0.6

−1.0
−0.050 −0.025 0.000 0.025 0.050
u

Fig. 3 Nonlinear and linear relationships between Pe and u

e under different α values (color online)

In the vertical direction, two sliders act on the lead screw, and the corresponding deforma-
tions of the spring are l + dl1 and l − dl2 (see Fig. 2(b)). Hence,
kdl1 kdl2 p Pl Pl
= = ⇒ dl1 , dl2 = . (10)
l + dl1 l − dl2 h kh − p kh + p
The deformation of the beam in the vertical direction can be solved as
2l2 h2 k 3 P
dy = . (11)
(kh + P )2 (kh − P )2
Similarly, the deformation of the beam in the horizontal direction can be expressed as
r s
³ h ´2 ³ P l ´2 ³ h 2l2 h2 k 3 P ´2
dx = l − − l− − − 2 2
. (12)
2 kh + P 2 (kh + P ) (kh − P )

The equivalent stiffness of the absorber can be expressed as

P 2(kh + P )2 (kh − P )2 ³ h ´2 ³ ³ P ´4 ´
keq = 4 × = = 2k 1 − . (13)
dy l 2 h2 k 3 l kh
Suppose that p/(kh) is infinitely small. Then, we have
³ h ´2
keq = 2k . (14)
l
1490 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

Therefore, the relationship between the natural frequency and span of the beam can be
obtained as
r r
keq 2k h
ωeq = = . (15)
m2 m2 l
It reflects the linear variation of the ADVA frequency with the span h, and could be used to
adjust the natural frequencies of the ADVA in the following analysis.

3 Dynamic model of a vibration absorption system

3.1 Dynamic response of the system with an ADVA

Consider an ADVA attached to a main system with a harmonic force excitation (see Fig. 4).
The governing equations of motion for this coupled system of two degrees of freedom can be
written as
(
m1 ẍ1 + c(ẋ1 − ẋ2 ) + k1 x1 + keq (x1 − x2 ) = F (t),
(16)
m2 ẍ2 + c(ẋ2 − ẋ1 ) + keq (x2 − x1 ) = 0.

The primary structure has a mass of m1 and a stiffness of k1 , whereas the absorber has
a mass of m2 , a linear stiffness of keq , which is adjustable, and a damping coefficient of c.
The proposed model is displayed in Fig. 4, where x1 and x2 are the relative displacements of
m1 and m2 relative to the ground, respectively, and F (t) = F0 sin(ωt), in which F0 and ω
are, respectively, the excitation amplitude and the excitation frequency, is the basic excitation
subjected on the primary structure.
The amplitudes X1 and X2 of the main system and the ADVA are obtained by the Fourier
transformation as follows:
−m2 ω 2 + jωc + keq
X1 = F0 , (17)
(−m1 ω2 + jωc + k1 + keq )(−m2 ω 2 + jωc + keq ) − (jωc + keq )2
jωc + keq
X2 = F0 . (18)
(−m1 ω 2 + jωc + k1 + keq )(−m2 ω 2 + jωc + keq ) − (jωc + keq )2

To describe the motion for the main system in the non-dimensional form, the following terms
are introduced:
 r r

 k1 keq c
 ω1 = , ω2 = , ξ= ,
m1 m2 2m2 ω2

 λ = ω , γ = ω 2 , µ = m2 .

ω1 ω1 m1
Therefore, the displacement response is assumed to be
s
|X1 | (γ 2 − λ2 )2 + (2ξλγ)2
= . (19)
δst ((1 − λ )(γ − λ ) − µγ 2 λ2 )2 + (1 − (λ2 + µλ2 ))2 (2ξλγ)2
2 2 2

The vibration absorption performance of the ADVA is measured in terms of the non-
dimensional displacement of the primary system as follows:

T = 20 lg(X1 /δst ), (20)

where δst = F0 /k1 . Obviously, the lower the non-dimensional displacement amplitude of the
primary system, the better the performance of the vibration absorption.
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1491

The frequency response curves of the primary system are plotted in Fig. 5 according to
Eq. (20), and the other selected parameters are listed in Table 1. The first natural frequency of
the primary system is calculated as 12.33 Hz (the red line in Fig. 5). After being coupled with
the absorber, the primary system has two new natural frequencies (the green line in Fig. 5). It
is observable that the vibration amplitude of the primary system decreases significantly when
the vibration absorber is in resonance.

200
With absorber
Without absorber
150 Minimum stiffness

Transmissibility/dB
Maximum stiffness

100
x2(t)
m2
Absorber 50
system keq c
x1(t)
0
m1
Main
system F(t) k1 −50
5 10 15 20
Forced frequency/Hz

Fig. 4 Dynamic model of a primary struc- Fig. 5 Frequency response curves of the pri-
ture coupled with an ADVA (color mary system (color online)
online)

Table 1 Input parameters of the system

Parameter Symbol Magnitude Unit
Mass of the primary system m1 8.42 kg
Stiffness of the primary system k1 50 537.11 N · m−1
Mass of the absorber m2 1.68 kg
Stiffness of the absorber k2 7 019.04 N · m−1
Damping coefficient of the absorber c 54.37 N · s · m−1

The frequency responses of the primary system at its maximum and minimum stiffness
values are also presented in Fig. 5, which are marked by the black and blue lines, respectively.
The stiffness values of the ADVA at its different spans are listed in Table 2. The minimum
stiffness of the absorber (4 495.94 N · m−1 ) is obtained at 30 mm, whereas the maximum stiffness
(31 135.32 N · m−1 ) is detected at 80 mm. The amplitude of the primary system is attenuated
significantly within the maximum and minimum stiffness values of the absorber. The frequency
response shift of the primary system also demonstrates the frequency-shifting performance of
the absorber under its varying stiffness (see Fig. 5).
To better evaluate the frequency-shifting performance of the ADVA, the transmissibility
of the ADVA for different span values are calculated and presented in Fig. 6. It is noticeable
that the peak values of the curves become larger as the span (stiffness) of the ATVA increases,
reflecting a good frequency-shifting ability of the ADVA.
3.2 Dynamic model of a controlled object
The vibration of manipulators is generally induced by the rotation of motors. An exper-
imental manipulator is designed as a primary structure to verify the low-frequency vibration
suppression ability of the designed ADVA. The mechanical model of the manipulator can be
simplified as a simply supported beam (see Fig. 7). Moreover, torsional stiffness is replaced by
1492 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

Table 2 Tuning positions and equivalent stiffness values at different frequencies

External Equivalent External Equivalent
Tuning Tuning
excitation h/l stiffness excitation h/l stiffness
position/mm position/mm
frequency/Hz /(N · m−1 ) frequency/Hz /(N · m−1 )
10 0.38 30.4 4 495.94 19 0.73 58.4 16 592.01
11 0.42 33.6 5 492.27 20 0.77 61.6 18 460.13
12 0.46 36.8 6 588.23 21 0.81 64.8 20 427.88
13 0.50 40.0 7 783.83 22 0.85 68.0 22 495.27
14 0.54 43.2 9 079.06 23 0.88 70.4 24 111.19
15 0.58 46.4 10 473.92 24 0.92 73.6 26 352.93
16 0.62 49.6 11 968.42 25 0.96 76.8 28 694.31
17 0.65 52.0 13 154.67 26 1.00 80.0 31 135.32
18 0.69 55.2 14 823.53

linear spring stiffness because gear fitting is located at Point O. An excitation F is used to
simulate the real vibration in the beam. The length of the manipulator is L, and a supporting
spring is located at Point x. The rotational angle of the manipulator along the y-direction is ϕ.

6
30.4 mm
5 36.8 mm
46.4 mm
Transmissibility

4 55.2 mm
61.6 mm l
y x
3 70.4 mm O x
z k
2
F
1 O ϕ

k
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Frequency/Hz F

Fig. 6 Transmissibility of the ADVA under Fig. 7 Simplified system model (color on-
different span values (color online) line)

The motion equation of the beam rotating around Point O can be expressed as

J0 ϕ̈ + kx2 ϕ = 0. (21)

The Euler formula and trigonometric transformation yields

p p p
ϕ = b1 cos p2 t + b2 cos p2 t = A sin( p2 t + θ), (22)

where p2 = ka2 /J0 .

Substituting the initial condition of t = 0, ϕ = ϕ0 , and ϕ̇ = ϕ̇0 into Eq. (24) yields
s
ϕ̇20 + p2 ϕ20
A= , (23)
p2
p
ϕ0 p 2
arctan θ = . (24)
ϕ̇0
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1493

Since the excitation F is harmonic (F = F0 sin(ωt)), the response of the manipulator can
be written as
F0 a ³ w ´
ϕ= 2 2
sin(wt) − sin(pt) . (25)
J0 (p − ω ) p

Hence, the first natural frequency of the system can be calculated as

s r
kx2 3kx2
ωn = = . (26)
J0 ml3

Let x/l = a. Then,

r r r r
3kx2 3k ³ x ´2 3ka2 3k
ωn = = = =a . (27)
ml3 ml l ml ml
It is clear from Eq. (27) that the first natural frequency of the system is proportional to the
length of the linear spring at Point x. The first-order natural frequency of the manipulator can
then be within the frequency range of the ADVA by adjusting the values of x and k.

4 Vibration suppression verification

4.1 Experimentation of the ADVA

The material parameters of the experimental prototype are listed in Table 3.

Table 3 Material parameters

Parameter Leaf spring Connection block Cylindrical guide rod Screw nut Mass block
Quantity 8 2 4 1 8
Material Manganese steel 6061 aluminum alloy 304 steel Copper 45 steel

The size, static mass, dynamic mass, and the dynamic static ratio of the absorber are
0.16 m × 0.16 m × 0.16 m, 0.3 kg, 1.68 kg, and 5.6, respectively. The vibration absorber is con-
nected to a designed fixture and a control system (see Fig. 8(a)). The experimental setup used
to analyze the frequency-shifting properties of the absorber is exhibited in Fig. 8(b). The base
of the absorber is connected to an exciter, an acceleration sensor is placed on the ADVA base
to measure the input signal, and another acceleration sensor is placed on the ADVA mass
block to measure the output signal. The transfer function is obtained by processing the signals
recorded by the two acceleration sensors. The natural frequencies of the ADVA are calculated
in a frequency range of 1 Hz–50 Hz under an amplitude of 400 mVpp.
Figure 9(a) illustrates the frequency-shifting performance of the ADVA at different spans.
It can be seen that Fig. 9(a) has the same result trend as that of the theoretical calculation in
Fig. 6. Due to the processing errors of the ADVA and random disturbances in the experimental
test, the curve jitter of Fig. 9(a) is larger than that in Fig. 6, and there is an error of about 6 Hz
in the frequency. Figure 9(b) plots the relationship between the frequency and span. Since
the relationship varies linearly in theory and almost all data points fall on a straight line, the
frequency shift of the ADVA is proportional to the span. In the experiment, the range of the
frequency shift is determined to be 16 Hz–32 Hz, owing to the travel limit of the leaf springs.
4.2 Vibration suppression verification
A manipulator model is used as the primary object for the simulation of a vibration exciter
(see Fig. 10). The ADVA is arranged on the manipulator to absorb the vibration energy and
evaluate the effect of the vibration absorption. The experimental setup is displayed in Fig. 11.
1494 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO
Accelerometer 1
Computer Absorber
Signal analyzer

Power amplifier
Control system
Data acquisition device
Accelerometer 2
Absorber Control system

Vibration exciter

Fig. 8 (a) Physical model of the vibration absorber and (b) frequency-shifting property test system
(color online)

40 30.4 mm 46.4 mm 61.6 mm Experiment

32
36.8 mm 55.2 mm 70.4 mm Linear fit
Transmissibility

Frequency/Hz 28
20
24

0
20

−20 16
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Frequency/Hz Span/mm
(a) (b)

Fig. 9 Frequency-shifting performance of the ADVA: (a) the transmissibility under different stiffness
values and (b) the relationship between the frequency and span (color online)

Manipulator

Spring

Vibration exciter

Fig. 10 Mechanical arm vibration system (color online)

Signal Computer
Control
analyzer system Absorber
Absorber

Power
amplifier
Mechanical Laser
arm Vibration displacement
Laser Mechanical arm exciter sensor
Vibration displacement
exciter sensor

Fig. 11 Experimental system (color online)

The natural frequency of the manipulator is excited by the vibration exciter. After the
Fourier transform of time-domain signals, the frequency domain diagram is obtained (see Fig. 12,
where the red curve represents the experimental data). It is easy to find that there is a smaller
bifurcation near the main peak, which could be fitted as the blue one owing to the proximity
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1495

of these two peaks. At the system natural frequency, the amplitude of the manipulator reaches
a maximum. Therefore, the basic frequency of the designed manipulator is around 24.47 Hz.
The designed ADVA is installed at the free end of the manipulator, which is excited by
a sinusoidal excitation at the amplitude values of 1 Vpp and 2 Vpp. A laser displacement
collector is used to record the amplitudes at the free end of the manipulator with and without
the vibration absorber. An evaluation index of the vibration absorption effect is introduced to
compare the vibration displacements of the manipulator before and after the installation of the
ADVA,
Awithout − Awith
χ= × 100%, (28)
Awithout
where Awith and Awithout are the amplitudes with and without the ADVA, respectively.
The influence of the static mass under an external excitation is also analyzed. The results
are shown in Fig. 13, where the green, blue, and red lines represent the amplitudes of the
manipulator without the vibration absorber, only with the static mass of the ADVA, and with
the ADVA, respectively. It is noticeable that the response of the manipulator without the
absorber is very high, and the static mass could restrain the system vibration to some extent.
However, an obvious amplitude reduction occurs with the introduction of the ADVA. Table 4
presents the results of all absorption effects calculated by Eq. (28).

0.06 Without Mass With

(24.47, 0.055) 0.2
Experiment
0.05 Gidding fit
Amplitude/mm

0.1
0.04
Amplitude/g

0.03 0.0

0.02
−0.1
0.01
−0.2
0.00
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Frequency/Hz Time/ms

Fig. 12 Amplitude frequency response of Fig. 13 Experimental result (color online)

the manipulator (color online)

Table 4 Vibration absorption effects under different external excitation inputs

Frequency/Hz
Amplitude/Vpp
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
1 55.4 71.7 73.8 77.8 81.3 85.0 87.7 88.6 87.0 86.2 86.9
2 58.5 75.1 74.4 82.6 82.2 85.4 85.3 84.0 85.1 86.4 85.2

Figure 14 compares the vibration absorption effects at the amplitude values of 1 Vpp and
2 Vpp, where the blue curve represents the experimental data, and the red one is the Gaussian
fit to obtain the trend of the data points. The best vibration absorption effect is obtained at
23.45 Hz (89.46%) and 23.14 Hz (87.10%). It shows that at the theoretical value of 24.47 Hz,
the corresponding errors are 5.1% and 5.8%, respectively. Therefore, the designed ADVA has
a good vibration absorption performance.
In addition, the vibration absorption effects under different working conditions, such as dif-
ferent excitation positions, are explored. When the vibration exciter is placed at the one-third
1496 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

0.90
0.90
Vibration absorption effect

Vibration absorption effect

0.85
0.85
(23.45, 0.89) (23.14, 0.87)
0.80 0.80

0.75 0.75
0.70 0.70
0.65 0.65
0.60 Experiment Experiment
Single peak fit 0.60 Single peak fit
0.55
0.55
16 18 20 22 24 26 16 18 20 22 24 26
Frequency/Hz Frequency/Hz
(a) (b)

Fig. 14 Vibration absorption effects at (a) 1 Vpp and (b) 2 Vpp (color online)

distance from the manipulator root (see Fig. 15(a)), the natural frequency of the manipulator is
13.55 Hz (see Fig. 15(b)). The three curves shown in Fig. 15(b) are similar to the experimental
results presented in Fig. 13. Therefore, the vibration absorption effect of the absorber is con-
sistent at all the excitation positions. The vibration absorption effect of the designed ADVA is
found to be about 90.13%.
0.8
Signal analyzer Without Mass With
0.6
Power amplifer
0.4
Amplitude/mm

0.2
Mechanical arm
0.0
Absorber −0.2

Laser −0.4
displacement −0.6
Vibration exciter
sensor
−0.8
0 200 400 600 800
Time/ms
(a) (b)

Fig. 15 (a) Experiment system and (b) experiment results (color online)

The absorption effect of the ADVA is also compared with that of a similar passive vibration
absorber by experiment. The absorption effect is calculated by
Aabsorber
λ = 20 log , (29)
Asystem
where Aabsorber represents the displacement amplitude of the passive absorber or ADVA, and
Asystem means the displacement amplitude of the main system without an absorber.
Here, keep the span of the ADVA be used as a classical passive absorber, and the obtained ab-
sorption effects are shown in Fig. 16. The black line corresponds to the results of the passive ab-
sorber, which can achieve the best absorption effect only at its resonance frequency. The absorp-
tion effect is poor at other frequencies, which even worsens the vibration of the main system (λ >
0). The red line in Fig. 16 shows the vibration absorption effects of the ADVA, which performs
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1497

5 Passive
Semi-active

Absorption effect/dB
0

−5

−10

−15

−20
18 20 22 24 26 28
Frequency/Hz

Fig. 16 Comparison of absorption effects between the passive absorber and ADVA (color online)

similarly to the passive absorber at 24 Hz but much better than the passive absorber at other
frequencies (λ < 0). Therefore, the ADVA is effective in a wide frequency band.

5 Adaptive tuning vibration control system

5.1 Control algorithm

The ADVA is driven by a motor to achieve a variable frequency. Therefore, a control
algorithm is required to control the motor in real-time. The purpose of the control algorithm
is to identify the dominant frequency of the main system in the current state.
Based on the STFT, a stepwise optimization algorithm is proposed to control the motor and
ensure the accuracy requirements of acceleration signal acquisition and processing. The control
algorithm can be divided into two stages. First, the external vibration frequency is identified
by the STFT, and the ADVA is adjusted to near the excitation frequency. Second, the natural
frequency of the ADVA is adjusted to minimize the root mean square (RMS) values of the
controlled object calculated by
v
uN
uX a2
t i
.
i=1
N

The implementation process of the control algorithm is presented in Fig. 17. The acceleration
of the primary system is sampled, and the excitation frequency ω1 is computed by the STFT.
According to the current span of the leaf spring, the natural frequency ω2 of the ADVA is
determined by fitting the above experimental data. The control frequency threshold ε is set, and
the span of the ADVA is adjusted to satisfy the discrimination conditions. Stepwise optimization
is performed to select the minimum RMS value within the specified termination step K0 as the
final span adjustment result. The movement direction of the motor is determined by comparing
the RMS values before (ERMS1 ) and after (ERMS2 ) the adjustment. Both the adjustment step K
and the minimum termination step K0 could be altered according to the accuracy requirements.
The final adjustment state of the span is obtained, and the above process is repeated when the
external excitation frequency changes.
The STFT can deal with non-stationary signals in practical applications. As the optimal
absorption frequency could shift according to the damping of the primary system, a stepwise
optimization approach is adopted to minimize the RMS value of the acceleration signal of the
vibration system.
1498 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

Start

Arrange the sensor on the main Identify the current span

system and collect acceleration signals of the leaf springs

Transform the acceleration signals to According to the fitting formula, obtain

compute the dominant frequency w1 the natural frequency of the ATVA, w2

|w1−w2|İε No
Adjust the span

Sample and calculate the current ERMS1

Adjust the span by the step length K and calculate ERMS2

Yes No
ERMS1ıERMS2

Adjust the natural frequency by K Reversely adjust the natural frequency by K

K = sgn(ERMS1−ERMS2)·K K = sgn(ERMS1−ERMS2)·K/2

ERMS1=ERMS2

Calculate ERMS2

KİK0 No

Yes
Finish

Fig. 17 Flowchart of the control algorithm

5.2 Adaptive tuning experiment

The vibration test system based on the ADVA is shown in Fig. 18. Here, the manipulator
is the controlled object with the absorber, and the laser displacement sensor is used to record
the displacement values of the manipulator. The effect of an adaptive adjustment system on
the ADVA can be obtained by exciting the manipulator in a certain frequency range.

Signal generator
Power amplifier

Power Motor
supply driver
ATVA
Manipulator
Laser
displacement
sensor
Controller

USB to UART
converter accelerometer

Fig. 18 Experimental test system and ADVA hardware system (color online)
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1499

Figure 18 also shows the hardware system of the ADVA, which consists of a power supply,
a motor driver, an accelerometer, a controller, and a universal serial bus (USB) to a universal
asynchronous receiver/transmitter (URAT) converter.
During the experiment, the accelerometer is not only the record of vibration for the ma-
nipulator but also the input of the control system to converse the frequency of the ADVA.
Meanwhile, a software system for the adaptive tuning of the ADVA is designed to monitor and
control the state and operation of the absorber (see Fig. 19). This software system is developed
based on MATLAB APP DESIGNER and communicates via a serial port.

Fig. 19 ADVA software system (color online)

The experimental results are shown in Fig. 20 with four obvious stages. The first stage is the
displacement of the manipulator with the external excitation of 20 Hz and 300 mVpp. Then,
the absorber is initially adjusted for the span after recognizing the frequency conversion signal
within the second stage. The third stage calculates the RMS value of the acceleration within
3 s and adjusts the span in 0.7 s to reduce the amplitude of the manipulator. The fourth stage
of adjustment keeps the amplitude with a new steady state.
Displacement amplitude/mm

0.3 1
Change the
0.2 excitation frequency
0.1
0.0 3 s 0.7 s
−0.1 2 3 4
−0.2
−0.3
5 8 11 14 17 20
Time/s

Fig. 20 Adaptive tuning experiment result (color online)

Moreover, the calculation time of the acceleration RMS can be set according to different
needs, and the adjustment time to the right frequency is proportional to the difference in
the frequency change. Therefore, the proposed control method could accurately identify the
frequency of the external excitation and control the vibration absorber to make adjustments.

6 Conclusions

To satisfy the requirements of vibration suppression for systems with low-frequencies and
large amplitudes, an ADVA is designed by adjusting the span of leaf springs.
1500 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

The principle of variable stiffness is theoretically analyzed. The coupled dynamic model
for the ADVA and the controlled system are established, and the physical parameters of the
designed ADVA are selected for the high vibration absorption effects. The experimental setups
are designed to verify the theoretical analysis. It is revealed that the first-order natural fre-
quency of the ADVA can shift from 16 Hz to 32 Hz. A classical manipulator is adopted to be the
primary structure and excited by vibrators. Different working conditions are considered, and
the best vibration absorption effect is obtained at 23.45 Hz (89.46%) and 23.14 Hz (87.10%).
Through the comparison with a similar passive absorber, the designed ADVA presents the
excellent performance of broadband vibration absorbing.
A stepwise optimization algorithm is proposed to realize the adaptive control of the ADVA,
which could track the frequency variation of the primary structure and response quickly to
make the ADVA in resonance. Finally, a prototype of the designed ADVA is fabricated. It is
found that the best vibration suppression effect of the self-tuning ADVA reaches 89.46% and
the adaptive tuning time is within 6 s in the experiment.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or
format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link
to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. To view a copy of this licence,
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

References
[1] MA, F., CAI, Y., and WU, J. H. Ultralight plat-type vibration damper with designable working
bandwidth and strong multi-peak suppression performance. Journal of Physics D, 54, 55303 (2021)
[2] WANG, X., BI, F., and DU, H. Reduction of low frequency vibration of truck driver and seating
system through system parameter identification, sensitivity analysis and active control. Mechanical
Systems and Signal Processing, 105, 16–35 (2018)
[3] XU, Z. D., CHEN, Z. H., and HUANG, X. H. Recent advances in multi-dimensional vibration
mitigation materials and devices. Frontiers in Materials, 6, 143 (2019)
[4] FRAHM, H. Device for Damping Vibrations of Bodies, US0989958, United States (1911)
[5] LIU, K. and LIU, J. The damped dynamic vibration absorbers: revisited and new result. Journal
of Sound and Vibration, 284, 1181–1189 (2005)
[6] HARTOG, J. P. Mechanical Vibrations, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 272–276 (1956)
[7] SHAKIB, A. and GHORBANI-TANHA, A. K. An innovative adaptive tuned vibration absorber
with variable mass moment of inertia for mitigation of transient response of systems. Structural
Control and Health Monitoring, 27, e2518 (2020)
[8] SHEN, Y., XING, Z., and YANG, S. Parameters optimization for a novel dynamic vibration
absorber. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 133, 106282 (2019)
[9] BONELLO, P. Adaptive Tuned Vibration Absorbers: Design Principles, Concepts and Physical
Implementation, In Tech, Rijeka, 1–28 (2011)
[10] HUNT, J. B. and NISSEN, J. C. The broadband dynamic vibration absorber. Journal of Sound
and Vibration, 83, 573–578 (1982)
[11] BONELLO, P., BRENNAN, M. J., and ELLIOTT, S. J. Vibration control using an adaptive tuned
vibration absorber with a variable curvature stiffness element. Smart Materials and Structures,
14(5), 1055–1065 (2005)
[12] KUMBHAR, S. B., CHAVAN, S. P., and GAWADE, S. S. Adaptive tuned vibration absorber
based on magnetorheological elastomer-shape memory alloy composite. Mechanical Systems and
Signal Processing, 100, 208–223 (2018)
[13] LUO, J. N., MACDONALD, J. H. G., and JIANG, J. Z. Identification of optimum cable vibration
absorbers using fixed-sized-inerter layouts. Mechanism and Machine Theory, 140, 292–304 (2019)
[14] SHI, B., YANG, J., and JIANG, J. Z. Tuning methods for tuned inerter dampers coupled to
nonlinear primary systems. Nonlinear Dynamics, 107, 1663–1685 (2022)
 Design and experiment of an ADVA with smart leaf springs 1501

[15] HU, Y. and CHEN, M. Z. Q. Performance evaluation for inerter-based dynamic vibration ab-
sorbers. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, 99, 297–307 (2015)
[16] DETROUX, T., HABIB, G., MASSET, L., and KERSCHEN, G. Performance, robustness and
sensitivity analysis of the nonlinear tuned vibration absorber. Mechanical Systems and Signal
Processing, 60-61, 799–809 (2015)
[17] ZANG, J., ZHANG, Y. W., and DING, H. The evaluation of a nonlinear energy sink absorber
based on the transmissibility. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 125, 99–122 (2019)
[18] KARAMA, M., HAMDI, M., and HABBAD, M. Energy harvesting in a nonlinear energy sink
absorber using delayed resonators. Nonlinear Dynamics, 105, 113–129 (2021)
[19] KO, I. M., CARCATERRA, A., and XU, Z. Energy sinks: vibration absorption by an optimal set
of undamped oscillators. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 117, 3031–3042 (2015)
[20] LI, T., GOURC, E., and SEGUY, S. Dynamics of two vibro-impact nonlinear energy sinks in
parallel under periodic and transient excitations. International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics,
90, 100–110 (2017)
[21] LIU, Y., MOJAHED, A., and BERGMAN, L. A. A new way to introduce geometrically nonlinear
stiffness and damping with an application to vibration suppression. Nonlinear Dynamics, 96,
1819–1845 (2019)
[22] WEI, Y. M., WEI, S., ZHANG, Q. L., DONG, X. J., PENG, Z. K., and ZHANG, W. M. Targeted
energy transfer of a parallel nonlinear energy sink. Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (English
Edition), 40(5), 621–630 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10483-019-2477-6
[23] VAURIGAUD, B., SAVADKOOHI, A. T., and LAMARQUE, C. H. Targeted energy transfer with
parallel nonlinear energy sinks, part I: design theory and numerical results. Nonlinear Dynamics,
66, 763–780 (2011)
[24] LAMARQUE, C. H., SAVADKOOHI, A. T., and CHARLEMAGNE, S. Nonlinear vibratory inter-
actions between a linear and a non-smooth forced oscillator in the gravitational field. Mechanical
Systems and Signal Processing, 89, 131–148 (2017)
[25] ZHANG, Z., ZHANG, Y. W., and DING, H. Vibration control combining nonlinear isolation and
nonlinear absorption. Nonlinear Dynamics, 100, 2121–2139 (2020)
[26] BENACCHIO, S., MALHER, A., and BOISSON, J. Design of a magnetic vibration absorber with
tunable stiffnesses. Nonlinear Dynamics, 85, 893–911 (2016)
[27] CHEN, J. E., SUN, M., and HU, W. H. Performance of non-smooth nonlinear energy sink with
descending stiffness. Nonlinear Dynamics, 100, 255–267 (2020)
[28] ZHAO, J., SUN, C., and KACEM, N. A nonlinear resonant mass sensor with enhanced sensitivity
and resolution incorporating compressed bistable beam. Journal of Applied Physics, 124(16),
164503 (2018)
[29] CHANG, Y., ZHOU, J., and WANG, K. Theoretical and experimental investigations on semi-
active quasi-zero-stiffness dynamic vibration absorber. International Journal of Mechanical Sci-
ences, 214, 106892 (2022)
[30] RAFIEIPOUR, M. H., GHORBANI-TANHA, A. K., and RAHIMIAN, M. A novel semi-active
TMD with folding variable stiffness spring. Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Vibration,
13, 509–518 (2014)
[31] KOMATSUZAKI, T. and IWATA, Y. Design of a real-time adaptively tuned dynamic vibration
absorber with a variable stiffness property using magnetorheological elastomer. Shock and Vibra-
tion, 2015, 67608 (2015)
[32] SHUI, X. and WANG, S. Investigation on a mechanical vibration absorber with tunable piecewise-
linear stiffness. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, 100, 330–343 (2018)
[33] KAWAI, T., KOMATSUZAKI, T., and ASANUMA, H. Development of a tuning algorithm for
a dynamic vibration absorber with a variable-stiffness property. Vibration Engineering for a Sus-
tainable Future, Springer, Switzerland (2021)
[34] NGUYEN, X. B., KOMATSUZAKI, T., and TRUONG, H. T. Novel semiactive suspension using
a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE)-based absorber and adaptive neural network controller for
systems with input constraints. Mechanical Sciences, 11, 465–479 (2020)
1502 Xiangying GUO, Yunan ZHU, Yegao QU, and Dongxing CAO

[35] MIRSANEI, R., HAJIKHANI, A., and PEYKARI, B. Developing a new design for adaptive tuned
dynamic vibration absorber (ATDVA) based on smart slider-crank mechanism to control of un-
desirable vibrations. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, 1, 80–87
(2012)
[36] LI, L., LUO, Z., and HE, F. An improved partial similitude method for dynamic characteristic of
rotor systems based on Levenberg-Marquardt method. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing,
165, 108405 (2022)
[37] WALSH, P. L. and LAMANCUSA, J. S. A variable stiffness vibration absorber for minimization
of transient vibrations. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 158, 195–211 (1992)
[38] GHORBANI-TANHA, A. K., RAHIMIAN, M., and NOORZAD, A. A novel semiactive variable
stiffness device and its application in a new semiactive tuned vibration absorber. Journal of En-
gineering Mechanics-ASCE, 137, 390–399 (2011)
[39] KIDNER, M. R. F. and BRENNAN, M. J. Varying the stiffness of a beam-like neutralizer under
fuzzy logic control. Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, 124, 90–99 (2002)
[40] NAGAYA, K., KURUSU, A., and IKAI, S. Vibration control of a structure by using a tunable
absorber and an optimal vibration absorber under auto-tuning control. Journal of Sound and
Vibration, 228, 773–792 (1999)
[41] WU, T. H. and LAN, C. C. A wide-range variable stiffness mechanism for semi-active vibration
systems. Journal of Sound and Vibration, 363, 18–32 (2016)
[42] NAGARAJAIAH, S. Structural Vibration Damper with Continuously Variable Stiffness,
US09/135370, United States (2020)
[43] PENG, C. and GONG, X. L. Active-adaptive vibration absorbers and its vibration attenuation
performance. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 312, 262–267 (2013)
[44] ZHANG, J., WANG, T., and WANG, J. Dynamic modeling and simulation of inchworm movement
towards bio-inspired soft robot design. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 14, 066012 (2019)