Optimal placement and tuning of pointwise dampers for vibrating strings via a Lyapunov framework

Abstract

We study the optimal placement and tuning of a small number of pointwise viscous dampers for a vibrating string. Starting from a finite element discretization of the damped wave equation, the system is transformed into a first-order phase-space formulation, which enables a unified Lyapunov trace framework. Three optimization criteria are considered: average total energy, average total displacement, and energy for a fixed initial state. For all criteria, explicit gradient formulas with respect to damper positions and viscosities are derived, requiring only one primal and one dual Lyapunov solve. Due to the strong non-convexity of the problem, a simple heuristic based on an explicit single-damper formula is proposed to generate effective initial guesses. Numerical examples illustrate the influence of spectral selection and discretization on the optimal damping configuration.