Investigation of Annular Gap Size for Optimizing the Dynamic Range of MR Damper Using Comsol Multiphysics Software

Magneto-rheological (MR) fluid technology has made it possible to develop reliable, revolutionary vibration control systems for a variety of commercial, medical and military applications. MR fluid shock absorber systems are enabled by remarkably versatile MR fluid technology, which allows the system to respond instantly and controllably to varying levels of vibration or shock with simple, robust designs. This paper presents a parametric study of the MR dampers for semi-active vibration control. The influence of gap size of the damper on the viscous stress of the MR fluid is examined. It is inferred from the study that the viscous stress of the MR fluid for different parameters such as gap size influences the dynamic range of MR fluid dampers.The simulated results depict a maximum viscous stress of 1765.441 N/m2 for a gap size of 1.85 mm. The developed dynamic range would allow for smaller size of the device, higher dynamic yield stress and low power consumption. The simulated results using COMSOL multiphysics for the verification of the parametric strategy have been presented. Results of this study shall enhance the design of MR dampers for different control applications.