Research on an Electromagnetic Actuator for Vibration Suppression and Energy Regeneration

This paper proposes an electromagnetic actuator that concurrently realizes two working functions of vibration suppression and energy regeneration. The actuator consists of four permanent magnetic rings, three soft iron rings, three coils, and three springs. The design of the electromagnetic actuator is based on finite element method (FEM) analysis, and the prototype is based on this analysis. Based on the prototype, the characteristics of the electromagnetic actuator, which has an output force–current coefficient of 39.49 N/A, are explored. A control algorithm with a position controller and an acceleration controller are applied to the actuator. When an impulse excitation is input to the electromagnetic actuator, the acceleration of the controlled object decreases from 114.26 m/s2 to 3.14 m/s2 here. Moreover, when the sinusoidal excitation with a 3 mm amplitude and 5 Hz frequency is input to the electromagnetic actuator, the vibration amplitude of the controlled object is 0.045 mm, suppressed within 1.46% when compared with the input signal. The peak value of the regenerated electromotive force is 1.97 V here, and the actuator efficiency for regenerating energy is 11.59%. The experimental results with multiple frequencies and amplitudes also show that the amplitude of the controlled object can be suppressed within 5.5%, and that the ratio of the electromotive force (EMF) to the input amplitude is 0.13. The results indicate that this electromagnetic actuator can suppress vibrations effectively and regenerate energy from vibrations.

Design, Experiment, and Improvement of a Quasi-Zero-Stiffness Vibration Isolation System

This paper proposes a new kind of quasi-zero-stiffness (QZS) isolation system that has the property of low-dynamic but high-static stiffness. The negative stiffness was produced using two magnetic rings, the magnetization of which is axial. First, the force–displacement characteristic of the two coupled magnetic rings was developed and the relationship between the parameters of the magnetic rings and the stiffness of the system was investigated. Then, the dynamic response of the QZS was analyzed. The force transmissibility of the system was calculated and the effects of the damping ratio and excitation amplitude on the isolation performance were investigated. The prototype of the QZS system was developed to verify the isolation effects of the system based on a comparison with a linear vibration isolation platform. Lastly, the improvement of the QZS system was conducted based on changing the heights of the ring magnets and designing a proper non-linear spring. The analysis shows the QZS system after improvement shows better isolation effects than that of the non-improved system.

Magnetic Ring Multi-Defect Stereo Detection System Based on Multi-Camera Vision Technology

Magnetic rings are the most widely used magnetic material product in industry. The existing manual defect detection method for magnetic rings has high cost, low efficiency and low precision. To address this issue, a magnetic ring multi-defect stereo detection system based on multi-camera vision technology is developed to complete the automatic inspection of magnetic rings. The system can detect surface defects and measure ring height simultaneously. Two image processing algorithms are proposed, namely, the image edge removal algorithm (IERA) and magnetic ring location algorithm (MRLA), separately. On the basis of these two algorithms, connected domain filtering methods for crack, fiber and large-area defects are established to complete defect inspection. This system achieves a recognition rate of 100% for defects such as crack, adhesion, hanger adhesion and pitting. Furthermore, the recognition rate for fiber and foreign matter defects attains 92.5% and 91.5%, respectively. The detection speed exceeds 120 magnetic rings per minutes, and the precision is within 0.05 mm. Both precision and speed meet the requirements of real-time quality inspection in actual production.

Development of Vibration Isolator With Controllable Stiffness Using Permanent Magnets and Coils

In this study, a novel vibration isolator is presented. The presented isolator possesses the controllable stiffness and can be employed in vibration isolation at a low-resonance frequency. The controllable stiffness of the isolator is obtained by manipulating the negative stiffness-based current in a system with a positive and a negative stiffness in parallel. By using an electromagnetic device consisting of permanent magnetic rings and coils, the designed isolator shows that the stiffness can be manipulated as needed and the operational stiffness range is large in vibration isolation. We experimentally demonstrate that the modeling of controllable stiffness and the approximation of the negative stiffness expressions are effective for controlling the resonance frequency and the transmissibility of the vibration isolation system, enhancing applications such as warship stealth technology, vehicles suspension system, and active vibration isolator.