The inerter was introduced as a mechanical counterpart to the electrical capacitor, completing the force-current analogy. This is a one-port, two-terminal device in which the equal and opposite forces exerted at its terminals are proportional to the relative acceleration between them. Within this relationship, the “inertance” is the coefficient of proportionality and carries the unit of mass. This implies that the inerter can exert an inertial force at its terminals, effectively representing a virtual mass. Due to these properties, inerters have gained popularity, finding applications as components of vibration control systems and energy harvesters. Derived from passive inerters, semi-active inerters are integrated with active control systems to regulate their inertance. Since their introduction, semi-active inerters have been pivotal in situations demanding active monitoring of natural frequency or control force, generally outperforming their passive counterparts. While numerous s
Abstract
This paper proposes a novel semi-active electromagnetic device with the capability of variable inertance and damping (VIVD) and an energy storage priority control (ESPC) strategy for vibration reduction of vehicle seat suspensions. The VIVD device can control its inertance and damping by adjusting resistances in a variable admittance (VA) circuit different from the traditional mechanical damper. The circuit and mechanical dynamics model of the VIVD seat suspension is analyzed and verified with tests, and the energy storage characteristic and controllability of the VIVD device are explored. Also, the frequency response characteristics of the VIVD device are derived from the admittance characteristics of the VA circuit. For the semi-active VIVD seat suspension, an H controller is designed to obtain the desired control force. An ESPC strategy is proposed to make the electromagnetic force of the VIVD device track the desired control force. The test results show that the VIVD se