Multi-resonant electromagnetic shunt in base isolation for vibration damping and energy harvesting

This paper investigates multi-resonant electromagnetic shunts applied to base isolation for dual-function vibration damping and energy harvesting. Two multi-mode shunt circuit configurations, namely parallel and series, are proposed and optimized based on the H2 criteria. The root-mean-square (RMS) value of the relative displacement between the base and the primary structure is minimized. Practically, this will improve the safety of base-isolated buildings subjected the broad bandwidth ground acceleration. Case studies of a base-isolated building are conducted in both the frequency and time domains to investigate the effectiveness of multi-resonant electromagnetic shunts under recorded earthquake signals. It shows that both multi-mode shunt circuits outperform traditional single mode shunt circuits by suppressing the first and the second vibration modes simultaneously. Moreover, for the same stiffness ratio, the parallel shunt circuit is more effective at harvesting energy and suppressing vibration, and can more robustly handle parameter mistuning than the series shunt circuit. Furthermore, this paper discusses experimental validation of the effectiveness of multi-resonant electromagnetic shunts for vibration damping and energy harvesting on a scaled-down base isolation system.