Vibration suppression of a cantilever beam using eddy current damper

This paper is concerned with a new modeling technique for the effective eddy current damper and vibration suppression of a beam using the eddy current damper. The eddy current damper consists of the permanent magnets and the conducting sheet. The relative motion between the magnets and the conducting sheet produces eddy currents thus resulting in the electromagnetic force, which turns out to be the damping force thus suppressing vibrations. The important advantage of the proposed eddy current damper is that it does not require any electronic devices and external power supplies. In the present study, the theoretical model for the eddy current damper is derived using the electromagnetic theory combined with the image method. The theoretical model enables us to estimate the damping augmented to the host structure as well as develop a design tool for the eddy current damper. It is found from the comparison with the experimental results that the theoretical model can predict the damping characteristics and the dynamic behavior of the structure. The theoretical and experimental results also showed that the vibration of the beam can be successfully suppressed by means of the eddy current damper.