Mechanical behavior of a torsional shear thickening fluid damper

Abstract

This work uses a fatigue testing machine to conduct the damping moment response of the torsional shear thickened fluid (STF) damper (T-STF-D) under different loading velocities. First, three STF samples were prepared based on nano-silica and polyethylene glycol, and a rheometer verified the shear thickening properties of STF samples. Secondly, based on the parallel plate theory, the theoretical model of T-STF-D is established, and the model's validity is verified based on the experimental data. Finally, a prototype of T-STF-D is designed and manufactured, and its short- and long-term dynamic response tests at different velocities are carried out. The results show that the T-STF-D has good damping performance with the increase of loading velocity, and the initial damping moment increases with the increase of loading velocity. However, the damping moment decays exponentially with the increase in loading time. Given this behavior, this work further proposes a phenomenal model to predict the damping moment, and the experimental data verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the model.