Control of forced vibration using multi-electrode electro-rheological fluid dampers

Vibration control of cylindrical, electro-rheological fluid (ERF) dampers were studied Single- as well as multi-electrode cylindrical ERF dampers were designed, built and tested under a forced vibration motion. Closed-loop, on-line control systems utilizing bang-bang and linear proportional controller were implemented to control the damping capacity of the ERF dampers. In addition, the designs were modified to reduce the required activation voltage. These modifications include increasing the electrode surface area as well as the number of electrodes. The damping ability of the dampers was further enhanced by using two identical dampers in series connection.