A Review on Structural Configurations of Magnetorheological Fluid Based Devices Reported in 2018–2020

Dezheng Hua,Anna Hnydiuk-Stefan,Xinhua Liu,Zengqiang Li,Zhixiong Li,Pawel Fracz

doi:10.3389/fmats.2021.640102

Abstract

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF) is a kind of smart materials with rheological behavior change by means of external magnetic field application, which has been widely adopted in many complex systems of different technical fields. In this work, the state-of-the-art MRF based devices are reviewed according to structural configurations reported from 2018 to 2020. Based on the rheological characteristic, the MRF has a variety of operational modes, such as flow mode, shear mode, squeeze mode and pinch mode, and has unique advantages in some special practical applications. With reference to these operational modes, improved engineering mechanical devices with MRF are summarized, including brakes, clutches, dampers, and mounts proposed over these 3 years. Furthermore, some new medical devices using the MRF are also investigated, such as surgical assistive devices and artificial limbs. In particular, some outstanding advances on the structural innovations and application superiority of these devices are introduced in detail. Finally, an overview of the significant issues that occur in the MRF based devices is reported, and the developing trends for the devices using the MRF are discussed.

Highlights

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF), as a kind of smart materials, has been widely studied by scholars due to its controllable rheological properties in a few milliseconds (Jackson et al, 2018; Fu et al, 2020; Zheng et al, 2020)
MRF based devices are mainly based on four operational modes of MRF, including flow mode, shear mode, squeeze mode and pinch mode, which show different performance in various practical application requirements (Elsaady et al, 2020a)
In view of the various problems in practical applications, many scholars have proposed different improvements and optimization methods based on traditional structures, which has greatly enhanced the performance of the MRF based devices

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Magnetorheological fluid (MRF), as a kind of smart materials, has been widely studied by scholars due to its controllable rheological properties in a few milliseconds (Jackson et al, 2018; Fu et al, 2020; Zheng et al, 2020). MRF based devices have great potential in structural optimization and innovative development and show outstanding performance in engineering (Hu et al, 2019; Yuan et al, 2019; Zhou et al, 2020) and medical fields (El Wahed, 2020). In view of the various problems in practical applications, many scholars have proposed different improvements and optimization methods based on traditional structures, which has greatly enhanced the performance of the MRF based devices. In some medical auxiliary and customized devices, such as prostheses (Jing et al, 2018; Zhou and Liu, 2020), rehabilitation protection devices (Zhou et al, 2020), and skeletons (Veronneau et al, 2018), the MRF has been widely studied for advantages of adjustable stiffness and easy structure integration Based on these specific applications, novel product structures and design methods are MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL FLUID BRAKES IN ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS.

Binyet and Chang

Findings

CONCLUSION AND PROSPECTIVE