Durability of Phosphorated Starch Based Electrorheological Fluids in Damper Application

Abstract

In this work, durability characteristics of electrorheological (ER) fluid for damper application are experimentally investigated. ER fluid is prepared by using phosphorated starch particles and silicone oil. The field-dependent Bingham characteristics and response time for the proposed ER fluids are experimentally obtained. Experimental apparatus of durability test for ER fluid is established with cylindrical ER cylinder for mid-sized passenger vehicle. In order to evaluate the durability characteristics of ER fluid as a function of time, damping force and temperature variations are measured until one million cycles. After durability test, Bingham characteristics and response time of ER fluid are measured and compared to the initial properties. Microscopic pictures of ER fluid are taken to validate the changes of properties. The results indicate that the ER fluid can be commercially utilized in vehicle damper system with its durability performance. Moreover, the understanding of durability characteristics is essential to predict the service life of ER fluid as well as to design its applications.