A new approach for dynamic modeling of an electrorheological damper using a lumped parameter method

This work proposes a new method for dynamic modeling of an electrorheological (ER) damper using a lumped parameter method. After describing the configuration and operating principle of the ER damper, quasi-static modeling of the damper is conducted on the basis of the Bingham model of ER fluid. Subsequently, the lumped parameter models of ER fluid flows in the damper are established and the integrated lumped model of the whole damper system is obtained by taking into account the dynamic motions of the annular duct, upper chamber, lower chamber and connecting pipe. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed dynamic model, a comparative work between the simulation and the experiment is undertaken. This is performed under various piston motions with different excitation magnitudes and frequencies. In addition, the effect of ER fluid compressibility and initial pressure in the accumulator on the hysteresis of the ER damper is investigated.