Theoretical and experimental investigation on nonlinear characterization of metal rubber

Metal Rubber (MR) can be widely used in many aspects such as damping of blade and support, pipe and equipment in air space technology, vehicle and ship. A theoretical method was performed to describe hysteretic properties and nonlinear stiffness and damping characteristics of Metal Rubber component. Spiral wire was considered as the micro-element structure of MR material by analyzing the manufacture process of MR component. Based on the material mechanics and coulomb friction theory, a mechanical model of spiral wire was established which is combined with the cylindrical compression coil spring theory. It was easy to explain the mechanism of hysteresis loop and the nonlinear stiffness and damping characteristic of MR component by means of analyzing contact conditions of micro-element. The quasi-static experiments were conducted to MR component with different material parameters. The influencing laws of material parameters on the performance of MR component were studied. The research was valuable for the analysis of the material mechanics and the design of MR component. It provides theoretical support for the further engineering application of MR material in the field of vibration reduction.