A novel magnetorheological fluid damper with a heat insulation function

Abstract

A novel magnetorheological fluid (MRF) damper was designed by adding an aluminium foil bubble insulation material with a low thermal conductivity in the cavity between the electromagnetic coil and the MRF to avoid a rapid rise in the temperature of the MRF in the working process of the damper. First, the rheological properties of the MRF at different temperatures were tested by a rheometer, squeezing and stretching tests of the MRF at different temperatures were carried out by a test machine, and the relationship between the dynamic viscosity and the shear stress, squeezing stress, stretching stress and temperature was obtained experimentally. Second, a new type of MRF damper was designed, and a corresponding numerical simulation was carried out to study the effect of this heat insulation on the temperature field and the damping effect under different electromagnetic coil temperatures. The results show that the rate of increase in the MRF temperature in the working area of the damper with the insulation material could be reduced by 57.4% compared to that of the damper without the insulation material. At the same time, the damping force increased greatly. The rate of increase in the rebound force was 12.0% ∼ 40.0%, the rate of increase in the compression force was 11.0% ∼ 39.9%, and the magnitude of increase increased with the frequency, amplitude and temperature. Finally, the damper was experimentally studied, and the numerical simulation results were consistent with the experimental results.