Structural Optimization Design of MR Fluid Clutch

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are suspensions of micron sized ferromagnetic particles dispersed in varying proportions of a variety of non-ferromagnetic fluids. MR fluids exhibit rapid, reversible and significant changes in their rheological (mechanical) properties while subjected to an external magnetic field. In this paper, a double-plate magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) clutch with controllable torque output have been designed. Electromagnetic finite element analysis is used to optimize the design of the clutch by using the commercial FEA software ANSYS.