Modeling and characterization of a magneto-rheological fluid based damper and analysis of vibration isolation with the damper operating in passive mode

A physical model of a type of commercially available magneto-rheological fluid based damper has been developed to study the input-output response characteristics. The impedance of the nonlinear device has been analyzed based on equivalent linearization method. The capability of isolating vibration with the help of such a damper has also been studied analytically. The damper is operated in passive mode while the excitation is kept harmonic. A novel method of obtaining the steady-state response of a damped oscillator is presented that uses a combination of harmonic balance method and the method of averaging. The isolating property of the damper has been measured by transmissibilities derived for equivalent linear system.