Control and experimental study of 6-DOF vibration isolation platform with magnetorheological damper

Abstract Vibration is an inevitable excitation in the operation of the mechanical system, which reduces its reliability and service life. Therefore, a heavy-duty 6-DOF semi-active vibration isolation system (VIS) with magnetorheological (MR) damper was proposed in this paper. Firstly, A MR damper with large output force of 27 kN was designed. The properties test results showed that the dynamic range (the adjustable multiple of damping force) of the damper is as high as 15, which has excellent dynamic performance. And a Bouc-Wen model which can accurately describe the mechanical behavior of the MR damper was established. Secondly, the prototype of the MR 6-DOF vibration isolation platform (VIP) with cubic structure was developed. Thirdly, a on-off semi-active control strategy was proposed for the MR 6-DOF VIP. The numerical simulation results showed that the semi-active VIS can effectively isolate vibration in the working frequency domain. Finally, the vibration experiment on shaking table was carried out. The test results showed that the designed heavy-duty MR 6-DOF semi-active VIP can control the load's attitude in real-time according to the system state. Compared with the current of 0 A, the vibration isolation effect of the on-off control is improved by 63.27% in the resonance region. The MR 6-DOF VIP can effectively reduce the vibration transmitted to the isolated system through the platform.