Design and damping force characterization of a new magnetorheological damper activated by permanent magnet flux dispersion

초록

This work proposes a novel type of tunable magnetorheological (MR) damper operated based solely on the location of a permanent magnet incorporated into the piston. To create a larger damping force variation in comparison with the previous model, a different design configuration of the permanent-magnet-based MR (PMMR) damper is introduced to provide magnetic flux dispersion in two magnetic circuits by utilizing two materials with different magnetic reluctance. After discussing the design configuration and some advantages of the newly designed mechanism, the magnetic dispersion principle is analyzed through both the formulated analytical model of the magnetic circuit and the computer simulation based on the magnetic finite element method. Sequentially, the principal design parameters of the damper are determined and fabricated. Then, experiments are conducted to evaluate the variation in damping force depending on the location of the magnet. It is demonstrated that the new design and magnetic dispersion concept are valid showing higher damping force than the previous model. In addition, a curved structure of the two materials is further fabricated and tested to realize the linearity of the damping force variation.

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