A Study on the Voltage Resonance to Improve the Operation of the MR Damper-Based Vibration Reduction System with Energy Harvesting

This paper deals with a magnetorheological damper-based vibration reduction system (MRD-VRS) with an energy harvesting ability. Together with the vibration-isolated object, the MRD-VRS constitutes a mechanical system with one degree of freedom (1DOF), which is set in motion by kinematic excitation. The authors propose improving the system performance by utilising voltage resonance in its electrical circuit. The originality of the concept involves placing an RLC two-port network between the harvester coil (the electrical energy source) and the MR damper coil (the receiver). This increases the current amplitude selectively, resulting in an increase in the force produced by the MR damper neighbouring the 1DOF mechanical system’s resonance frequency. At the same time, this current is reduced at frequencies significantly higher than the resonance frequency. The intention behind shaping the current in the MR damper coil is to improve the MRD-VRS’s performance, so that it can reduce the vibration-isolated object’s displacement amplitude more effectively across the entire frequency range. The aim of the study is to determine the RLC two-port network parameters that maximise the MR damper coil current at the mechanical resonance frequency of the 1DOF system by exploiting voltage resonance. It should be noted that the resonant frequency of the RLC two-port network differs from the frequency at which the maximum current in the MR damper coil is achieved, since the electrical circuit is branched. The paper considers a mathematical model, the results of numerical simulations and the validation of both the electrical circuit comprising an RLC two-port network and the MRD-VRS under consideration. Analysis of the numerical results determined the resonant frequency and quality factor of the RLC two-port network, achieving the greatest improvement in vibration damping efficiency across the entire range of excitation frequencies.