• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.739-757
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• 2017

The main goal of this study is to investigate the hysteretic behavior of polyurethane rubber springs in compression with and without precompression. The precompression is introduced to provide rigid force in the behavior, and thereby a precompressed rubber spring can be used for a restoring element. For the goal, this study prepares nine rubber springs for three suites which are all cylindrical in shape with a hole at the center. The rubber springs in each suite have different dimensions of diameter and length but have similar shape factors; thus, they are designed to have a similar compressive stiffness. Three rubber springs from the nine are tested with increasing compressive strain up to 30% strain to investigate the behavior of the rubber springs without precompression as well as the effect of the loading strain. The nine springs are compressed up to 30% strain with increasing precompressive strain from 0 to 20% at increments of 5%. The study analyzes the effective stiffness and damping ratio of the rubber springs with and without precompression, and the rigid force of the precompressed rubber springs is discussed. Finally, this study suggests a regression method to determine the minimum required precompression to eliminate residual strain after unloading.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.223-229
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• 2016

This study proposes a new technology for a smart damper with flag-shaped behavior using the combination of magnetic friction and rubber springs. The magnet provides friction and, thus, energy dissipation, and the rubber springs with precompression contribute to present self-centering capacity of the damper. To verify their performance, this study conducts dynamic tests of magnet frictional dampers and precompressed rubber springs. For the purpose, hexahedron Neodymium (NdFeB) magnets and polyurethane rubber cylinders are used. In the dynamic tests, loading frequency varies from 0.1 to 2.0 Hz. The magnets provide almost perfect rectangular behavior in force-deformation curve. The rubber springs are tested without or with precompression. The rubber springs show larger rigid force with increasing precompression. Lastly, this study discusses combination of rigid-elastic behavior and friction to generate 'flag-shaped' behavior for a smart damper and suggests how to combine the magnets and the rubber springs to obtain the flag-shaped behavior.