With the rapid development of aerospace technology, the vibration problem of
the spacecraft flexible structure urgently needs to be solved. Magnetic fluids
are a type of multi-functional smart materials, which can be employed in shock
absorbers to eliminate these vibrations. Referring to the calculation methods
of stiffness coefficients of other passive dampers, the stiffness coefficient
formula of magnetic fluid shock absorbers (MFSAs) was derived. Meanwhile, a
novel stiffness adjustable magnetic fluid shock absorber (SA-MFSA) was
proposed. On the basis of the second-order buoyancy principle, a series of
SA-MFSAs were fabricated. The range of stiffness coefficients covered by these
SA-MFSAs contains the optimal stiffness coefficient estimated by formulas. The
repulsive force measurement and vibration attenuation experiments were
conducted on these SA-MFSAs. In the case of small amplitude, the relationship
between the repulsive force and the offset distance was linear. The simulation
and experiment curves of repulsive forces were in good agreement. The results
of vibration attenuation experiments demonstrated that the rod length and the
magnetic fluid mass influence the damping efficiency of SA-MFSAs. In addition,
these results verified that the SA-MFSA with the optimal stiffness coefficient
performed best. Therefore, the stiffness coefficient formula can guide the
design of MFSAs.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figure