Semi-active vibration control using a variable-stiffness vibration isolator incorporating an MRE

Abstract

Magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) is a class of smart material whose rheological or viscoelastic properties can be varied by applying external magnetic fluid. The MRE is the solid analogue of magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) and expected to overcome the disadvantages of the fluid such as the particle deposition and the sealing problems. When such MRE is exposed to external magnetic field, the strength of the inter-particle force will change and thus their apparent elastic modulus is changed depending on the magnitude of the field. In this paper, the MRE is then applied to the vibration isolating mounts along with variable stiffness control scheme. Before designing the vibration isolator, the magnetic field analysis was performed by the finite element method (FEM) in order to find out how much magnetic field is applied to MRE. Then, three type variable-stiffness vibration isolator applied the MRE are developed, and evaluate each of the transmission characteristics. Experimental investigations suggested that the proposed anti-vibration mount with variable stiffness property may be possible to suppress the vibration than conventional one in a wide range of frequency band.