Sliding mode control for slosh-free motion of a container using partial feedback linearization

Liquid sloshing has been an important problem in several areas including launch vehicle. This paper presents a novel way of designing the sliding surface to deal with unmatched uncertainties in system matrix and input matrix. And yet tailor desired dynamic performance for a slosh problem. A simple pendulum model has been considered to represent the lateral slosh. Partial feedback linearization has been used. Nonlinearities of partially linearized systems have been considered as uncertainties. Sliding surface was designed to fulfill stability and desired performance requirements. Controller designed using power rate reaching law guarantees finite time reaching. Simulation results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed controller.