Semi-Active Vibration Isolation of a Modular Magnetorheological Elastomer Device with ON-OFF and Fuzzy Logic Control

Abstract

A modular device incorporating a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) has been developed for vibration isolation applications. Following characterisation of its open-loop dynamic behaviour, this study investigates semi-active control strategies - ON/OFF control, proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control, and fuzzy logic control - targeting vibration attenuation at a dominant frequency of 12 Hz. These controllers dynamically adjust the MRE's damping properties by modulating the electromagnet's magnetic field in response to input vibration signals. Performance was evaluated using a shaker setup with a defined vibration spectrum, with the electromagnet's power consumption serving as a key metric. Experimental results show that ON/OFF control consumed the highest energy, drawing an average current of 2.5 A (26 W) and using 130 J over 5 s. While fuzzy logic control achieved the lowest consumption, a 72.5 % reduction compared to ON/OFF and 37.2 % less than PID. These findings highlight fuzzy logic control as the most energy-efficient strategy, offering significant power savings without compromising vibration isolation performance. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.