Speaker: Prof. Weihua Li, University of Wollongong, Australia

Chair: Dr. Antonio J.F Bombard

Abstract: Semi-active isolators working with laminated magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) structures have found applications in vibration control. This work reports the development of new MRE isolators with metamaterial structures for enhancing vibration suppression capabilities suitable for wide frequency ranges. This novel design takes advantage of tunable vibration bandgaps from novel metamaterial structures. Specifically, metamaterial MRE isolators were designed and prototyped. The mechanism of the formation of vibration bandgaps, for both infinite and finite periodic structures, was theoretically analysed, which details the equivalent negative stiffness of the metamaterial MRE isolator. Experiments were conducted to evaluate bandgaps of the metamaterial MRE isolators and their vibration isolation capacity. Results demonstrate that the new metamaterial MRE isolators are capable of offering enhanced vibration isolation performance with controllable bandgaps.