Performance Analysis of Magneto-Rheological Mounts

Abstract

The effect of various parameters for a magneto-rheological (MR) mount on the vibration isolation performance of the mount is studied. The mount that is used for this study incorporates MR fluid in a conventional fluid mount to open and close an inertia track between the fluid chambers of the mount. It has been shown in previous studies that such switching of the inertia track improves the mount's isolation effect by eliminating the large transmissibility peak that commonly exists at frequencies larger than the notch frequency for conventional fluid mounts. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the effect of different parameters, such as the rubber stiffness, inertia track, fluid resistance, piston area, and volumetric stiffness on the transmissibility of the mount. The results show that varying the rubber stiffness, piston area, and volumetric stiffness of the mount have the greatest effect on the vibration performance of the mount, as measured by its transmissibility.