• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.714-719
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• 2011

This paper presents vibration characteristics of magnetorheological(MR) elastomer, whose elastic modulus are controllable by applied magnetic field. By using this property, the material can be applied to vibration absorber, so that the stiffness of the absorber can be changed and actively controlled according to the magnetic flux density. However, the various performances of MR elastomer depends on different polarized direction of particles by applied magnetic field and dimension during the manufacturing process. In this paper, in order to obtain the optimal characteristics of MR elastomer, MR elastomers with different types and dimensions are prepared for a series tests. Using this test setup, extent of natural frequency shifted against magnetic field at various excitation frequencies can be measured. Specimens are prepared with 3 types, as cylinder samples exposed to magnetic field vertically, horizontally and unexposed during cure, respectively. Also, a set of design variables are considered to produce MR elastomers. Through the modal tests of mass structure with MR elastomer, the optimal design as well as the polarization direction of MR elastomer is obtained among the various dimensions and 3 directional types of MR elastomers.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.752-757
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• 2011

This paper presents vibration characteristics of magnetorheological (MR) elastomer, whose elastic modulus are controllable by an applied magnetic field. By using this property, the material can be applied to vibration absorber, so that the stiffness of the absorber can be changed and actively controlled according to the magnetic flux density. However, the various performances of MR elastomer depends on different magnetically polarization direction and dimension during the manufacturing process. In this paper, in order to obtain the optimal characteristics of MR elastomer, MR elastomers with different types and dimensions are prepared for a series tests. Using this test setup, extent of natural frequency shifted against magnetic field at various excitation frequencies can be measured. Specimens prepared with 3 types which are exposed to magnetic field vertically, horizontally and unexposed during cure. Also, a set of design variables are considered to produce MR elastomers. Through the modal tests of mass structure with MR elastomer, the optimal design as well as the polarization direction of MR elastomer is obtained among the various dimensions and 3 directional types of MR elastomers.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.582-587
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• 2012

This paper presents a solution of the vibration reduction in the hollow shafts by using magentorehological( MR) elastomer. Proposed active damping structure is built by embedding the MR elastomers whose elastic modulus is controllable by an applied magnetic field. MR elastomers consist of synthetic rubber filled with micron-sized magnetizable particles. For reduction of vibration, dynamic damper of hollow shaft is designed by using MR elastomer and equipped in the hollow shaft for the application to drive shaft. Experiment results are shown through the experiments to confirm the effect of MR elastomer dynamic damper for vibration reduction. Thus, the designed damping structure can be applied to vibration absorber used in drive shafts as well as the propeller shafts.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.57-64
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• 2020

The nonlinear dynamics of a directly forced clamped-clamped-free-free magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) sandwich shell has been experimentally investigated. Experiments have been conducted on an aluminium shallow shell (shell A) and an MRE-aluminium sandwich shallow shell with single curvature (shell B). An electrodynamic shaker has been used to directly force shells A and B in the vicinity of their fundamental resonance frequency; a laser displacement sensor has been used to measure the vibration amplitude to construct the frequency-response curves. It was observed that for an aluminium shell (shell A), that at small forcing amplitudes, a weak softening-type nonlinear behaviour was observed, however, at higher forcing amplitudes the nonlinear dynamical behaviour shifted and a strong hardening-type response occurred. For the MRE shell (shell B), the effect of forcing amplitude showed softening at low magnetic fields and hardening for medium magnetic fields; it was also observed the mono-curved MRE sandwich shell changed dynamics to quasiperiodic displacement at some frequencies, from a periodic displacement. The presence of a magnetic field, initial curvature, and forcing amplitude has significant qualitative and quantitative effects on the nonlinear dynamical response of a mono curved MRE sandwich shell.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.150-157
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• 2018

Fatigue properties of rubber are one of the most important characteristics in the rubber industry. In this study, the fatigue properties of MREs (magneto-rheological elastomers) based on NR (natural rubber), EPDM (ethylene-propylene diene monomer), and AEM (ethylene/acrylic elastomer) were investigated. For comparison, MREs with a Shore hardness of 60A were prepared. According to the relative results, the fatigue properties of EPDM MRE were the worst. Thus, we investigated methods to improve the fatigue properties of EPDM MRE by varying the carbon black content and curing systems of EPDM as the matrix of the MRE. Dynamic properties were measured using a fatigue tester and an RPA (rubber process analyzer), and the XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) was used to analyze the curing system of the EPDM matrix. According to the results, the Payne effect increased and the fatigue resistance decreased as the carbon black content increased. In case of the curing system, the CV (conventional vulcanization) system was superior to the EV (efficient vulcanization) system in terms of the fatigue resistance. This was because the number of flexible bonds in the case of the CV system was higher than that in the case of the EV system. However, the EV system showed excellent mechanical properties because it had many monosulfidic bonds with strong binding energy.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.6-12
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• 2015

This paper investigates the stick-slip characteristic of magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) between an aluminum plate and the surface of the MRE. MRE is a smart material and it can change its mechanical behavior with the interior iron particles under the influence of an applied magnetic field. Stick-slip is a movement of two surfaces relative to each other that proceeds as a series of jerks caused by alternate sticking from friction and sliding when the friction is overcome by an applied force. This special tribology phenomenon can lead to unnecessary wear, vibration, noise, and reduced service life of work piece. The stick-slip phenomenon is avoided as far as possible in the field of mechanical engineering. As this phenomenon is a function of material property, applied load, and velocity, it can be controlled using the characteristics of MRE. MRE as a soft smart material, whose mechanical properties such as modulus and stiffness can be changed via the strength of an external magnetic field, has been widely studied as a prospective replacement for general rubber in the mechanical domain. In this study, friction force is measured under different loads, speed, and magnetic field strength. From the test results, it is confirmed that the stick-slip phenomenon can be minimized under optimum conditions and can be applied in various mechanical components.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.1101-1121
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• 2016

Base isolation, one of the popular seismic protection approaches proven to be effective in practical applications, has been widely applied worldwide during the past few decades. As the techniques mature, it has been recognised that, the biggest issue faced in base isolation technique is the challenge of great base displacement demand, which leads to the potential of overturning of the structure, instability and permanent damage of the isolators. Meanwhile, drain, ventilation and regular maintenance at the base isolation level are quite difficult and rather time- and fund- consuming, especially in the highly populated areas. To address these challenges, a number of efforts have been dedicated to propose new isolation systems, including segmental building, additional storey isolation (ASI) and mid-storey isolation system, etc. However, such techniques have their own flaws, among which whipping effect is the most obvious one. Moreover, due to their inherent passive nature, all these techniques, including traditional base isolation system, show incapability to cope with the unpredictable and diverse nature of earthquakes. The solution for the aforementioned challenge is to develop an innovative vibration isolation system to realise variable structural stiffness to maximise the adaptability and controllability of the system. Recently, advances on the development of an adaptive magneto-rheological elastomer (MRE) vibration isolator has enlightened the development of adaptive base isolation systems due to its ability to alter stiffness by changing applied electrical current. In this study, an innovative semi-active storey isolation system inserting such novel MRE isolators between each floor is proposed. The stiffness of each level in the proposed isolation system can thus be changed according to characteristics of the MRE isolators. Non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm type II (NSGA-II) with dynamic crowding distance (DCD) is utilised for the optimisation of the parameters at isolation level in the system. Extensive comparative simulation studies have been conducted using 5-storey benchmark model to evaluate the performance of the proposed isolation system under different earthquake excitations. Simulation results compare the seismic responses of bare building, building with passive controlled MRE base isolation system, building with passive-controlled MRE storey isolation system and building with optimised storey isolation system.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.597-605
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• 2008

The feasibility study of a newly proposed smart base isolation system employing magneto-rheological elastomers(MREs) has been carried out. MREs belong to a class of smart materials whose elastic modulus or stiffness can be adjusted by varying the magnitude of the magnetic field. The base isolation systems are considered as one of the most effective devices for vibration mitigation of civil engineering structures such as bridges and buildings in the event of earthquakes. The proposed base isolation system strives to enhance the performance of the conventional base isolation system by improving the robustness of the system wide stiffness range controllable of MREs, which improves the adaptability and helps in better vibration control. To validate the effectiveness of the MRE-based isolation system, an extensive numerical simulation study has been performed using both single-story and five-story building structures employing base isolated devices under several historical earthquake excitations. The results show that the proposed system outperformed the conventional system in reducing the responses of the structure in all the seismic excitations considered in the study.