Experimental verification of smart passive control system based on MR damper

Abstract

Recently, semiactive control systems have received considerable attention. Among semiactive system, the magnetorheological (MR) fluid damper is one of the most prospective semiactive control systems. However, when a lot of MR fluid dampers are used in large-scale structures, the control devices become complex: many MR fluid dampers are used and then each MR fluid damper must be connected to at least one power supply and controller. Also, many sensors are needed to measure structural responses for feedback control. To resolve this difficulty, a smart passive control system that consists of an MR fluid damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) part was proposed by Cho et al. The electromotive force induced by movement of a structure can be control MR damper effectively without any external power supply and control algorithm. This study represents experimental verification of the smart passive control system. For experimental setup, proper capacities of EMI system are determined by numerical analysis. The efficacy of the MR damper-based smart passive control system for vibration suppression of a shear building has been experimentally investigated using calculated values. Scaled historical earthquakes are used as external loads by shaking table. The acceleration and the displacement of the floors as well as the damper force and command voltage are measured. The results of the smart passive control system are compared with passive off, passive on, and optimal passive case which is determined by experiments.