On the vibration control of semi-active friction dampers with piecewise defined contact geometries

Suppressing unwanted vibrations has been a major challenge for more than a century. Semi-active dampers offer a compromise between the high energy costs of active solutions and their increased flexibility. A nonlinear system that utilizes dry friction and piecewise defined contact geometries is used as the basis for a semi-active damper. Furthermore, a slow frequency-based control that does not solely rely on dissipation is considered and compared to the conventional Skyhook Control. Simulations show that the strategy is an effective approach for vibration reduction.