• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.141-155
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• 2019

This work evaluates the influence of negative stiffness on the performances of various vehicle suspension systems, and proposes a re-centering negative stiffness device (NSD). The re-centering NSD consists of a passive magnetic negative stiffness spring and a positioning shaft with a re-centering function. The former produces negative stiffness control forces, and the latter prevents the amplification of static spring deflection. The numerical simulations reveal that negative stiffness can improve the ride comfort of a vehicle without affecting its road holding abilities for either passive or semi-active suspension systems. In general, the improvement degree of ride comfort increases as negative stiffness increases. For passive suspension system, negative stiffness brings in negative stiffness feature in the control forces, which is helpful for the ride comfort of a vehicle. For semi-active suspensions, negative stiffness can alleviate the impact of clipped damping in semi-active dampers, and thus the ride comfort of a vehicle can be improved.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.15-38
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• 2018

Negative stiffness dampers (NSDs) have been proven an efficient solution to vibration control of stay cables. Although previous studies usually assumed a linear negative stiffness behavior of NSDs, many negative stiffness devices produce negative stiffness with nonlinear behavior. This paper systematically evaluates the impact of nonlinearity in negative stiffness on vibration control performance for stay cables. A linearization method based on energy equivalent principle is proposed, and subsequently, the impact of two types of nonlinear stiffness, namely, displacement hardening and softening stiffness, is evaluated. Through the Hilbert transform (HT) of free vibration responses, the effects of nonlinear stiffness of an NSD on the modal frequencies, damping ratios and frequency response functions of a stay cable is also investigated. The HT analysis results validate the accuracy of the linearization method.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.399-415
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• 2023

In this study, we investigate the use of a negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system to improve the performance of a base-isolated structure. The negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system consists of a tuned inerter damper connected in parallel with a negative stiffness element. To find the optimal parameters for the base-isolated structure with negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system, we develop an optimization method based on performance criteria. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the superstructure acceleration response ratio, while ensuring that the base displacement response ratio remains below a specified target value. We evaluate the proposed method by conducting numerical analyses on an eight-story building. The structure is modeled using both a simplified 3-degree-of-freedom system and a more detailed story-by-story shear-beam model. Lastly, a comparative analysis using time history analysis is performed to compare the performance of the base-isolated structure with negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system with that of the base-isolated structure and base-isolated structure with tuned inerter damper systems. The results obtained from the comparative analysis show that the negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system outperforms the tuned inerter damper system in reducing the dynamic seismic response of the base-isolated structure. Overall, this study demonstrates that the negative stiffness tuned inerter damper system can effectively enhance the performance of base-isolated structures, providing improved seismic response reduction compared to other systems.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.229-242
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• 2021

Dynamic characteristics of tall building structures with double negative stiffness damped outriggers (2NSDO) are parametrically studied using the theoretical formula. Compared with one negative stiffness damped outrigger (1NSDO), 2NSDO can achieve a similar maximal modal damping ratio with a smaller negative stiffness ratio. Besides, the 2NSDO can improve the maximum achievable damping ratio to about 30% with less consumption of an outrigger damping coefficient compared with the double conventional damped outriggers (2CDO). Besides, the responses of structures with 2NSDO under fluctuating wind load are investigated by time-history analysis. Numerical results show that the 2NSDO is effective in reducing structural acceleration under fluctuating wind load, being more efficient than 1NSDO.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.653-668
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• 2018

This work proposes and investigates re-centering negative stiffness dampers (NSDs) for vibration suppression in high-speed trains. The merit of the negative stiffness feature is demonstrated by active controllers on a high-speed train. This merit inspires the replacement of active controllers with re-centering NSDs, which are more reliable and robust than active controllers. The proposed damper design consists of a passive magnetic negative stiffness spring and a semi-active positioning shaft for re-centering function. The former produces negative stiffness control forces, and the latter prevents the amplification of quasi-static spring deflection. Numerical investigations verify that the proposed re-centering NSD can improve ride comfort significantly without amplifying spring deflection.

• Journal of International Academy of Physical Therapy Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1468-1474
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• 2018

The purpose of the study was to investigate the immediate effects of negative pressure soft tissue therapy on muscle tone, muscle stiffness and balance in patients with stroke. In total, 20 patients with stroke and assigned to the negative pressure soft tissue therapy group (NPST, n=10) or, placebo-negative pressure soft tissue therapy group(Placebo-NPST, n=10). Both groups underwent NPST or placebo-NPST once a day during the experimental period. MyotonPRO was used to assess the parameters for muscle tone and stiffness. Biorescue was used to assess the parameters for balance. Each group showed improvements in muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability (p<.05). Especially, Muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and anterior length in the limit of stability were the significant improvement on NPST group (p<.05). The results of the study suggest that the NPST is effective in improving muscle tone, muscle stiffness, and balance ability in patients with stroke.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11b
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• pp.739-744
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• 2001

In order to investigate the stability of magneto-rheological fluid based squeeze film damper (MR-SFD), its negative stiffness effect, which arises from magnetization of MR-SFD, is identified theoretically and experimentally. The analytical model of MR-SFD includes the magnetic circuit as well as the displacement stiffness associated with the squeeze mode of MRF. Extensive experiments are carried out to measure the magnetic attraction forces generated in the MR-SFD, with the excitation frequency and the eccentricity of the journal varied, which are controlled by an active magnetic bearing. The simulation and experimental results are found to be in good agreement. It is concluded that the negative stiffness effect dominates only in the low frequency region because its effect diminishes in the high frequency region due to the eddy-current loss.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.481-493
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• 2020

The negative stiffness spring and inerter are both characterized by the negative stiffness effect in the force-displacement relationship, potentially yielding an amplifying mechanism for dashpot deformation by being incorporated with a series tuning spring. However, resisting forces of the two mechanical elements are dominant in different frequency domains, thus leading to necessary complementarity in terms of vibration control and the amplifying benefit. Inspired by this, this study proposes a Negative Stiffness Inerter System (NSIS) as an earthquake protection system and developed analytical design formulae by fully utilizing its advantageous features. The NSIS is composed of a sub-configuration of a negative stiffness spring and an inerter in parallel, connected to a tuning spring in series. First, closed-form displacement responses are derived for the NSIS structure, and a stability analysis is conducted to limit the feasible domains of NSIS parameters. Then, the dual advantageous features of displacement reduction and the dashpot deformation amplification effect are revealed and clarified in a parametric analysis, stimulating the establishment of a displacement-based optimal design framework, correspondingly yielding the design formulae in analytical form. Finally, a series of examples are illustrated to validate the derived formulae. In this study, it is confirmed that the synergistic incorporation of the negative stiffness spring and the inerter has significant energy dissipation efficiency in a wide frequency band and an enhanced control effect in terms of the displacement and shear force responses. The developed displacement-based design strategy is suitable to utilize the dual benefits of the NSIS, which can be accurately implemented by the analytical design formulae to satisfy the target vibration control with increased energy dissipation efficiency.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.321-332
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• 2009

Recent development in composites containing phase-transforming particles, such as vanadium dioxide or barium titanate, reveals the overall stiffness and viscoelastic damping of the composites may be unbounded (Lakes et al. 2001, Jaglinski et al. 2007). Negative stiffness is induced from phase transformation predicted by the Landau phase transformation theory. Although this unbounded phenomenon is theoretically supported with the composite homogenization theory, detailed stress analyses of the composites are still lacking. In this work, we analyze the stress distribution of the Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) composite and its two-dimensional variant, namely a circular inclusion in a square plate, under the assumption that the Young's modulus of the inclusion is negative. Assumption of negative stiffness is a priori in the present analysis. For stress analysis, a closed form solution for the HS model and finite element solutions for the 2D composite are presented. A static loading condition is adopted to estimate the effective modulus of the composites by the ratio of stress to average strain on the loading edges. It is found that the interfacial stresses between the circular inclusion and matrix increase dramatically when the negative stiffness is so tuned that overall stiffness is unbounded. Furthermore, it is found that stress distributions in the inclusion are not uniform, contrary to Eshelby's theorem, which states, for two-phase, infinite composites, the inclusion's stress distribution is uniform when the shape of the inclusion has higher symmetry than an ellipse. The stability of the composites is discussed from the viewpoint of deterioration of perfect interface conditions due to excessive interfacial stresses.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.489-506
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• 2018

This paper reported test of full-scale cables attached with four types of dampers: viscous damper, passive Magneto-Rheological (MR) damper, friction damper and High Damping Rubber (HDR) damper. The logarithmic decrements of the cable with attached dampers were calculated from free vibration time history. The efficiency ratios of the mean damping ratios of the tested four dampers to theoretical maximum damping ratio were derived, which was very important for practical damper design and parameter optimization. Non-ideal factors affecting damper performance were discussed based on the test results. The effects of concentrated mass and negative stiffness were discussed in detail and compared theoretically. Approximate formulations were derived and verified using numerical solutions. The critical values for non-dimensional concentrated mass coefficient and negative stiffness were identified. Efficiency ratios were approximately 0.6, 0.6, and 0.3 for the viscous damper, passive MR damper and HDR damper, respectively. The efficiency ratio for the friction damper was between 0-1.0. The effects of concentrated mass and negative stiffness on cable damping were positive as both could increase damping ratio; the concentrated mass was more effective than negative stiffness for higher vibration modes.