Abstract
In an attempt to validate the effectiveness of magnetorheological (MR) damper in controlling wind-induced response of a building model in wind tunnel, a small-scale rotary shear-mode type of MR damper is designed. A prototype damper with forces of few newtons is manufactured and tested in laboratory. A phenomenological model based on the original Bouc-Wen model is then developed. Additionally, a simplified yet relatively accurate inverse dynamic model that directly relates the damper force to the input voltage is proposed for the shear-mode MR damper. Numerical examples and experiments demonstrate that MR damper used with the inverse model can closely reproduce prescribed forces. This inverse model provides an alternative means to command MR damper for control applications.
