The Modelling of Hysteresis in Magnetorheological Dampers Using a Generalised Prandtl-Ishlinskii Approach

The major drawback of magnetorheological dampers (MR) lies in their non-linear and hysteretic force-velocity response. To take full advantage of the operating characteristics of these devices a high fidelity model is required for control analysis and design. In this contribution the ability of a generalised PI operator-based model to represent the characteristics of a commercially available MR damper is examined. This approach allows the user to define the PI operator to best match the hysteresis characteristics. For the MR damper the force-velcoity hysteresis characteristic is ‘S’ shaped and constrained. Two possibilities will be examined here for the generalised play operator; an hyperbolic tan function and a symmetric sigmoid function.