Electromagnetic design of magneto-rheological mount and its open-loop semi-active control

Abstract

Magneto-Rheological mount is a new type of semi-active and intelligent vibration isolator. It can adjust damping to reduce unwanted vibration from engine by supplying required input currents. The performance of Magneto-Rheological (MR) mount is much better than the conventional rubber mount or hydraulic mount due to its controllability and flexibility. In this paper, a novel MR engine mount with the flow mode-type for a sedan is devised, manufactured and characterized. Some important parameters are optimized to meet the requirements of MR mount by using Electromagnetic design methodology.. Electromagnetic finite element analysis verifies the effectiveness of the magnetic circuit design. The dynamic performances of MR engine mount in frequency domain are investigated experimentally. The results show that the dynamic stiffness and phase lag of MR engine mount can change continuously. They are frequency-dependent. In additional, a open-loop control strategy based on engine rotational speed measurement is proposed and the control system is performed in hardware and software. The experimental and theoretical results identified the effectiveness of such a semi-active vibration isolation system.