Alison B. Flatau
Program Director, Dynamic Systems and Control Program
National Science Foundation
Characterization, Design, and Modeling of Magnetostrictive Transducers
This presentation provides an overview of work on characterization, design, and modeling of magnetostrictive transducers being done in the Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department of Iowa State University. Results from experimental studies are shown examining the broad range of performance achievable through control of transducer operating conditions such as prestress, DC magnetic bias, AC field level, and frequency. Results include studies demonstrating the use of the large delta E effect found in Terfenol-D for control of a tuned vibration absorber, variability of hysteresis and efficiency characteristics with operating conditions and a recent investigation of the elastic modulus and blocked force characterisitics of one of our transducers. Results from an energy-based modeling approach incorporating both the active (magnetostrictive) and passive (elastic) dynamics of our transducer wil also be shown, illustrating the potential this approach has for modeling the nonlinear and hysteretic output typical of magnetostrictive devices.