This paper presents an innovative seat suspension with variable stiffness and variable damping (VSVD) via magnetorheological fluid dampers to enhance ride comfort. The VSVD seat suspension is developed based on an innovative structure with springs in series and damping units, and its principles of VSVD and vibration attenuation are evaluated theoretically. The proposed VSVD seat suspension is then manufactured and tested. The test results illustrate that the equivalent stiffness of the seat suspension with power on (I s =2.0 A current) increased to 186% and the equivalent damping (I d =1.0 A) raised to 520% compared to the seat suspension with no current applied. The evaluation of vibration-attenuation capability of the seat suspension is conducted by employing Fuzzy logic controls and both harmonic and random signals are considered as vibration excitations. The experimental data show that the proposed seat suspension with controlled stiffness and damping results in lower seat acceleration compared to a passive seat or one with traditional damping control.

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF) dampers are widely used as the variable damping devices in the semi-active vibration control system. In order to further improve the vibration reduction performance, a variable stiffness MRF damper with two chambers and two springs has been proposed recently. According to the test results, both of the damping and stiffness of the device can be controllable by changing the applied current independently. However, the mechanisms of variable stiffness for this device are still not clear. In this paper, the force transmissions of the parts of the variable stiffness MRF damper are analyzed, which reveals the variable stiffness mechanisms of dual parameters changing MRF devices. There are three stages for the variable stiffness MRF damper due to the friction and the yield of MR fluid. These stages can be controlled by the applied current of the different chambers, which changes the equivalent stiffness of the device. The proposed modelling of the device is verified by simulations and tests. In addition, the relationships between the equivalent stiffness and the parameters of the device are derived, which provide the design guidance for the variable stiffness MRF dampers.

The Landweber iteration is a general method for the solution of linear systems which is widely applied for image reconstructions. The convergence behavior of the Landweber iteration is of both theoretical and practical importance. By the representation of the iterative formula and the convergence results of the Landweber iteration, we derive the optimal relaxation method under the minimization of the spectral radius of the newly derived iterative matrix. We also establish the iterative relaxation strategy to accelerate the convergence for the Landweber iteration when only the biggest singular value is available. As an immediate result, we derive the corresponding results for the Richardson's iteration for the symmetric nonnegative definite linear systems. Finally, numerical simulations are conducted to validate the theoretical results. The advantage of the proposed relaxation strategies is demonstrated by comparing with the existing strategies.

Variable stiffness magnetorheological fluid (MRF) dampers inherently have special nonlinear characteristics and complex structures. An accurate model describing the nonlinearity is the key for the damper to operate under variable conditions. This paper proposes a self-adapting model to characterize the variable stiffness MRF dampers through corresponding optimized algorithm. The experimental results verify the capability of the self-adapting of the model parameters. The model can describe the nonlinear characteristics of the variable stiffness MRF damper when conditions are changed. The proposed self-adaptive model improves the model accuracy which provide an approach for modeling complex dampers under variable working conditions.

The semi-active suspension systems for variable mass systems require long work stroke and variable damping, while the currently piston structure limits the work stroke for the magnetorheological (MR) dampers. The main work of this paper is to design a semi-active non-piston MR (NPMR) suspension rod for the reduction of the vibration of an automatic impeller washing machine, which is a typical variable mass system. The designed suspension rod locates in the suspension system that links the internal tub to the washing machine cabinet. The NPMR suspension rod includes a MR part and a air part. The MR part can provide low initial damping force and the unlimited work stroke compared with the piston MR damper. The hysteretic response tests and vibration performance evaluation with different loadings are conducted to verify the dynamic performance for the designed rod. The measured damping force of the MR part varies from 5 to 20 N. Studies of dehydration mode experiments of the washing machine indicate that its vibration acceleration with the NPMR suspension rods can reduce to half of the original passive ones in certain conditions.