Design, modeling, and control of a magnetorheological rotary damper for scissor seat suspension

Abstract

This research investigates the design, modeling, and control of an improved magnetorheological rotary damper for seat suspension. A magnetorheological damper with optimized flux path is developed to improve the distribution of magnetic field. Its dynamic damping characteristics are tested by MTS machine under sinusoidal excitations. To describe the nonlinear damping characteristics of magnetorheological damper, a hysteretic model based on backbone curve is selected by comparing with other models. To verify the feasibility of seat suspension with the proposed magnetorheological damper, the simulated analysis and experimental tests are conducted. A dynamic model of scissor seat suspension with rotary damper is constructed and simplified. The performances of semi-active system show that the seat suspension with the proposed damper can reduce vibration efficiently.