Design and analysis programme of electrorheological devices for vehicle systems

Abstract

In this work, a dynamic program for design and analysis of electrorheological (ER) devices for vehicle systems is developed in a graphic user-interface (GUI) environment. The initial window of the program shows four subprogram modules which are related to the design of ER shock absorber, ER seat damper, ER engine mount and ER anti-lock brake system, respectively. Each module consists of three structures: input design parameter, dynamic analysis, and output display. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed program, the ER shock absorber and ER engine mount are designed and manufactured on the basis of the program. A comparison of damping force characteristics between analysed and measured results is undertaken.