Designing Tunable Dampers Using Smart Materials
Faculty Mentor Information
Dr. Zhangxian Deng (Mentor), Boise State University
Abstract
The goal of this study is to prototype a smart damper with tunable stiffness and damping coefficients for an automobile door latch. This innovative damper consists of a soft thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) chamber filled with a gallium-indium liquid metal. At room temperature, the liquid metal is solidified and the damper exhibits high stiffness and low damping coefficient. When activated by an electric current, the liquid metal melts due to Joule heating and the damper shows low stiffness and high damping coefficient. This type of tunable damper is effective for vibration control of automobile door latches, which need to be rigidly secured during driving but soft and easy to move when opening and closing. This method of damping only requires energy when actively damping, which is more suitable to this application than traditional magnetorheological (MR) fluid based dampers. The functionality of this tunable damper is demonstrated using a customized vibration isolation test rig. By measuring the vibration magnitude on both ends of the damper across a wide frequency range, we will verify the damper’s effectiveness in noise, vibration, and harshness control.
Designing Tunable Dampers Using Smart Materials
The goal of this study is to prototype a smart damper with tunable stiffness and damping coefficients for an automobile door latch. This innovative damper consists of a soft thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) chamber filled with a gallium-indium liquid metal. At room temperature, the liquid metal is solidified and the damper exhibits high stiffness and low damping coefficient. When activated by an electric current, the liquid metal melts due to Joule heating and the damper shows low stiffness and high damping coefficient. This type of tunable damper is effective for vibration control of automobile door latches, which need to be rigidly secured during driving but soft and easy to move when opening and closing. This method of damping only requires energy when actively damping, which is more suitable to this application than traditional magnetorheological (MR) fluid based dampers. The functionality of this tunable damper is demonstrated using a customized vibration isolation test rig. By measuring the vibration magnitude on both ends of the damper across a wide frequency range, we will verify the damper’s effectiveness in noise, vibration, and harshness control.