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Current potential research project
Development of active vibration control
- Supervisors: Dr Paul Gunther and Dr Sang-Heon Lee
- Area: Ergonomics, Automotive Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
- Abstract: Driver/passenger discomfort is partially attributed to seat vibration, which is either 6D road excitation induced through tires, support system, floor pans and seat rails or engine excitation induced through engine mounts, floor pans and seat rails. In order to isolate the driver from such unwanted vibration, seat cushion foam pads (mostly PU) are designed to provide a comfortable driver/seat acceleration characteristic. Albeit this might be a solution in a lab environment, it doesn’t provide the desired results in a real world environment for several reasons: varying road and tire conditions, tire wear, spring and damper ageing, foam and overall cushion deterioration, driver variability and other reasons. Electromagnetic actuators (Figure 3) have been used lately in laboratory environments as excitation actuators for vehicle vibration test stands. In a reversed cycle, they can also be used as tuned mass dampers (TMD) for vibration control or elimination. Electromagnetic TMDs have ideal characteristics for vibration damping: they are small build, fast, rugged and provide a stable control loop. This PhD project is to research further miniaturisation of electromagnetic TMDs, their mechanic behaviour and power requirement. Control algorithms for the selected mechanical architecture will need to be developed. Assuming a 42V modern vehicle power supply system, a seat system equipped with 3 or 4 electromagnetic TMDs shall be developed and tested for its capability of eliminating a road typical floor pan induced excitation signal.
- Related references: Not provided
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