Studies on Passive Type and Semiactive Type MR Dampers

Abstract

In this study, the authors propose a passive type MR (magnetorheological) damper which uses two sets of rare-earth magnets and has hardening resisting force characteristics. We also developed a semiactive type MR damper with a bypass. The resisting force characteristics of the trial dampers, and the frequency and seismic responses of a single-degree-of-freedom system supported with each damper were measured using a vibration machine. The experimental results were compared with the calculated results, and the performance of both dampers were compared.