Electrorheological damper analysis using an Eyring-plastic model

This paper presents experimental and theoretical analysis of an electrorheological (ER) damper. To describe practical damper characteristics of force versus velocity and force versus displacement response to sinusoidal displacement inputs, an Eyring model is proposed. On the basis of an Eyring rheological model, an Eyring-plastic model is constructed by combination of simple nonlinear functions. Therefore, the Eyring-plastic model has the advantage of simple design and formulation, even though it is in the form of a nonlinear function. In addition, the Eyring-plastic model can capture practical damper responses quite well, particularly in both the pre-yield and the post-yield states. An ER damper is configured and its damping force under various electric fields and excitation frequencies is experimentally tested. On the basis of the damper response tested, the Eyring-plastic model is constructed and its validation is proved by comparing the predicted damper results with the experimental data for force versus sinusoidal velocity and force versus sinusoidal displacement responses.