Spillover minimization: An approach for actuators and sensors placement in distributed parameter study

A technique for selecting the positions where actuators and sensors should be placed for the control of large flexible systems is presented. For control implementation, the independent modal space control is used for increasing the damping of the dominant modes. Two indices are defined taking into account the importance of each mode as a function of the position over the elastic domain, and are used to reduce the effect of the controller over the nondominant modes. A two dimensional structure is investigated to obtain numerical results.