Robustness of active modal damping of large flexible structures

The method of active modal damping (AMD) is reviewed, and the pinhole/occulter facility (P/OF) is presented as a design example. This system is a large space system composed of a flexible beam, a gimbal-pointing system, and an optical alignment system mounted in the Shuttle cargo bay and excited by typical Shuttle disturbances. The AMD system performance is compared with that of a series-compensated control system.