Vibration control of a frame structure using electro-rheological fluid mounts

A squeeze-mode electro-rheological (ER) mount has been designed, manufactured, and applied to the vibration control of a frame structure subjected to external excitations. After verifying that the damping force of the ER mount can be controlled by controlling the applied voltage, a frame structure system supported by spring mounts and the proposed ER mounts has been assembled. The governing equation of the structural system is derived in the modal coordinate and is rewritten as a state-space control model. An optimal controller, which consists of the velocity feedback signal of the frame structure and the force feedback signal transmitted from the exciting point to the mount position, is formulated in order to attenuate the imposed excitations. The controller has been optimized experimentally and control responses such as the acceleration of the frame structure and the transmitted force at each mount position are presented in both time and frequency domains.