Stability Analysis of Magneto-Rheological Damper for Suspension of Commercial Vehicles

Abstract

This paper aims at improving the efficiency of magneto-rheological dampers, which utilizes a smart material in the form of magneto-rheological fluid, over the typical-build conventional dampers. The proposed design has been modeled for its implementation in commercial vehicles which extensively relies on conventional shock-absorbers for the safety and comfort of its occupants, considering the space available for mounting the system. Dimensional constraints based on commercial vehicles pertaining to the hatchback segment have been taken in COMSOL® and analyzed to generate a considerable amount of damping force for realizable inputs. As the analysis requires a profound consideration of highly coupled physics interface, COMSOL® Multi-physics is chosen as the relevant platform which makes it suitable to fulfill the criteria at hand. The damping forces achieved in the model are determined based on the linear Bingham model and the non-linear hysteretic Bou c-Wen model. A rigorous analysis was conducted to realize the variation in damping force values on account of the hysteresis losses induced in the system. Optimization based on Taguchi’s mixed level design approach is used to attain the optimal design parameters of MR damper. MRF-140 CG fabricated by Lord Corporation is adopted to introduce the rheological effect of MR fluid on the proposed model.