Electrorheological dampers and semi-active structural control

Electrorheological damper technology is reviewed in the context of structural control applications. These dampers are effective when operated in their post-yield regime, as captured by a Bingham model with control dependent parameters. Feedback control laws are developed for a general class of multiple degree of freedom structural models controlled by multiple electrorheological dampers. The feedback control laws are derived to maximize the rate at which the total energy function decays. The control laws are applicable to both excited and unexcited structural systems, and they are simple to implement using analog electronics. The resulting closed loop systems are robust to uncertainties in the structural model, in the electrorheological damper model, and in the excitation model. Specific results are presented for a class of single degree of freedom structures.