New type magnetorheological damper and its application on semi-active control of structural seismic response

摘要

Magnetorheological (MR) dampers are new semi-active control devices in which the damping forces are controlled by magnetic field. These dampers are well suited for semi-active control of seismically loaded civil structures. In this study, the performance of a semi-active control system based on newly developed MR fluid damper is studied. A simple parallel plate model is used to investigate the MR damper's behavior. The comparison between the analytical and experimental results verifies the theoretical analysis of the developed MRF damper. A Three-Degree-of-Freedom (3DOF) lumped-parameter model is introduced to represent a model-scale civil structure installed with the new damper. Using this model, semi-active control method such as Continuous Sliding Mode (CSM) controller is simulated. Excellent results are obtained when this strategy is applied to control a model of a seismically excited three-story scaled building. The results clearly demonstrate that the MR damper has the potential for improving the seismic behavior of civil structures.