Adaptively tunable magnetorheological elastomer-based vibration absorber for a propeller aircraft seat

In this study, a simple but effective design of an adaptively tunable magnetorheological elastomer (MRE)-based seat vibration absorber (SVA) is presented to achieve better vibration reduction of a propeller aircraft seat. In order to effectively concentrate the magnetic field generated from the electromagnet into the MRE pad areas, an electromagnetic finite element analysis (FEA) was also conducted. Based on this FEA, the MRE-based SVA was fabricated. The damping force characteristics of the MRE-based SVA were experimentally evaluated using an Instron testing machine. The dynamic stiffness and loss factor of the MRE-based SVA were obtained using this test data. In order to confirm the tunability of the MRE-based SVA, the transmissibility with respect to a range of applied input currents was experimentally obtained via vibration testing.