Investigations on the design of controllable magnetorheological (MR) fluid devices have focused heavily on low velocity and low frequency applications. The extensive work in this area has led to a good understanding of MR fluid properties at low velocities and frequencies. However, the issues concerning MR fluid behavior in impact and shock applications are relatively unknown. To investigate MR fluid properties in this regime, MR dampers were subjected to impulsive loads. A drop-tower test facility was developed to simulate the impact events. The design includes a guided drop-mass released from variable heights to achieve different impact energies. Five drop-heights and two fundamental MR damper configurations were tested. The two configurations were a double-ended piston and a mono-tube with nitrogen accumulator. To separate the dynamics of the MR fluid from the dynamics of the current source, each damper received a constant supply current before the impact event. A total of five supply currents were investigated for each impact velocity. After reviewing the results, it was concluded that the effect of energizing the MR fluid only leads to "controllability" below a certain fluid velocity for the double-ended design. In other words, until the fluid velocity dropped below some threshold, the MR fluid behaved as if it was not energized, regardless of the strength of the magnetic field. Controllability was defined when greater supply currents yielded larger damping forces. For the mono-tube design, it was shown that the MR fluid was unable to travel through the gap fast enough during the initial impact. Consequently, the damper piston and accumulator piston traveled in unison until the accumulator bottomed out. After which, the fluid was forced through the gap. In conclusion, the two designs were compared and general recommendations on designing MR dampers for impulsive loading were made. Possible directions for future research were presented as well. / Master of Science

Magnetorheological dampers, or as they are more commonly called, MR dampers, are being developed for a wide variety of applications where controllable damping is desired. These applications include dampers for automobiles, heavy trucks, bicycles, prosthetic limbs, gun recoil systems, and possibly others. This thesis first introduces MR technology through a discussion of MR fluid and then by giving a broad overview of MR devices that are being developed. After giving the reader an understanding of MR technology and devices, MR damper basics are presented. This section includes a discussion of MR damper types, mathematical fundamentals, and an approach to magnetic circuit design. With the necessary background information covered, MR dampers for automotive use are then discussed. Specifically, designs for MR dampers that were built for a Mercedes ML-430 and for a Ford Expedition are presented along with their respective test results. These test results are presented and compared with the original equipment hydraulic dampers. After discussing automotive MR dampers, designs for gun recoil applications are presented. Specifically, two different MR damper designs are discussed along with live-fire test results for the first damper. Finally, two hybrid dampers that were based on a modified adjustable hydraulic damper are presented. These hybrid dampers, if pursued further, may develop into controllable replacements for large hydraulic dampers such as those installed on large vehicles and field Howitzers. In conclusion, recommendations are made for materials as well as for seal selection and other design aspects. / Master of Science

This study experimentally evaluates the dynamic response of a single vehicle suspension incorporating a magneto-rheological (MR) damper. A full-scale two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) quarter-car test apparatus has been constructed at the Advanced Vehicle Dynamics Lab at Virginia Tech to evaluate the response of a vehicle suspension under the different control schemes of skyhook, groundhook, and hybrid semiactive control. The quarter-car apparatus was constructed using materials from 80/20 Incorporated and a hydraulic actuation system from MTS. A dSPACE AutoBox was used both for controlling the MR dampers and acquiring data. The first task was to understand the baseline dynamic response of the quarter-car system with only a passive damper. Next, the passive damper was replaced with a controllable MR damper. The control schemes of skyhook, groundhook, and hybrid semiactive control were applied to the MR damper. The physical response of the quarter-car with the different control schemes was then compared to the analytical prediction for the response, with favorable results. The response of the quarter-car with the semiactive damper was also compared to the response of the quarter-car with a passive damper, and the resulting limitations of passive damping are discussed. Finally, the practical implications of this study are shown in a discussion of the physical implementation of the MR dampers in the Virginia Tech FutureCar, a full-size Chevrolet Lumina. Although the actual skyhook, groundhook, and hybrid semiactive control schemes were not implemented on the vehicle, the results were promising and generated several recommendations for future research. / Master of Science

This master's thesis deals with an engineering design of an external reservoir for hydraulic shock absorbers with combined filling of oil and magnetorheological fluid. The first part describes existing designes of magnetorheological shock absorbers and characteristics of magnetorheological fluid. Next part describes a design of an experimental external reservoir and a test of its functionality on a prototype. This is followed by an optimalized engineering design of the experimental external reservoir.

Die aus magnetisierbaren Partikeln und einer elastischen Matrix bestehenden magnetorheologischen Elastomere sind ein Verbundwerkstoff mit magnetisch steuerbaren Eigenschaften. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein kontinuumsmechanisches Modell zur Beschreibung der relevanten physikalischen Phänomene bereitgestellt. Die Lösung zugehöriger Randwertaufgaben basiert auf der erweiterten Finiten Elemente Methode. Zur Verifikation und Validierung des Modells werden analytische Referenzlösungen zweidimensionaler Problemstellungen herangezogen. Die Homogenisierung des magnetomechanischen Feldproblems erfolgt mit kleinen Deformationen. Aus einer Volumenmittelung der lokal inhomogenen Feldverteilungen ergeben sich makroskopische Variablen. Auf Basis dieser Größen lassen sich Aussagen über das effektive Verhalten ableiten. Somit ist neben den rein magnetischen und mechanischen Materialeigenschaften das gekoppelte magnetomechanische Verhalten analysierbar. Darunter sind aktuatorische Spannungen, magnetostriktive Dehnungen und der magnetorheologische Effekt zu verstehen. / Magnetorheological elastomers are composite materials consisting of magnetizable particles embedded in an elastic matrix. Their properties can be altered by an external magnetic field. In this work a continuum based formulation is applied to model relevant physical phenomena. Boundary value problems are solved by the extended Finite Element Method. For the purposes of verification and validation analytic solutions are provided. The homogenization of the magnetomechanical field problem is limited to small deformations. Macroscopic variables are obtained by volume averaging. In addition to macroscopic magnetic and mechanical properties the effective behavior is analyzed in terms of actuatoric stresses, magnetostrictive strains and the magnetorheological effect.

Conventional hydraulic brake (CHB) systems used in automotive industry have several limitations and disadvantages such as the response delay, wear of braking pad, requirement for auxiliary components (e.g. hydraulic pump, transfer pipes and brake fluid reservoir) and increased overall weight due to the auxiliary components. In this thesis, the development of a novel electromechanical brake (EMB) for automotive applications is presented. Such brake employs mechanical components as well as electrical components, resulting in more reliable and faster braking actuation. The proposed electromagnetic brake is a magnetorheological (MR) brake. The MR brake consists of multiple rotating disks immersed into an MR fluid and an enclosed electromagnet. When current is applied to the electromagnet coil, the MR fluid solidifies as its yield stress varies as a function of the magnetic field applied by the electromagnet. This controllable yield stress produces shear friction on the rotating disks, generating the braking torque. This type of braking system has the following advantages: faster response, easy implementation of a new controller or existing controllers (e.g. ABS, VSC, EPB, etc.), less maintenance requirements since there is no material wear and lighter overall weight since it does not require the auxiliary components used in CHBs. The MRB design process included several critical design steps such as the magnetic circuit design and material selection as well as other practical considerations such as cooling and sealing. A basic MRB configuration was selected among possible candidates and a detailed design was obtained according to a set of design criteria. Then, with the help of a finite element model (FEM) of the MRB design, the magnetic field intensity distribution within the brake was simulated and the results were used to calculate the braking torque generation. In order to obtain an optimal MRB design with higher braking torque generation capacity and lower weight, the key design parameters were optimized. The optimization procedure also consisted of the FEM, which was required to calculate the braking torque generation in each iteration. Two different optimization search methods were used in obtaining the minimum weight and maximum braking torque: (i) a random search algorithm, simulated annealing, was first used to find an approximate optimum design and (ii) a gradient based algorithm, sequential quadratic programming, was subsequently used to obtain the optimum dimensional design parameters. Next, the optimum MRB was prototyped. The braking performance of the prototype was tested and verified, and the experimental results were shown. Also, experimental results were compared with the simulation results. Due to the lack of accurate material property data used in the simulations, there were discrepancies between the experimental and the simulation results. Other possible sources of errors are also discussed. Since the prototype MRB generates much lower braking torque compared to that of a similar size CHB, possible design improvements are suggested ton further increase the braking torque capacity. These include the relaxation of the optimization constraints, introduction of additional disks, and the change in the basic magnetic circuit configuration.

Die aus magnetisierbaren Partikeln und einer elastischen Matrix bestehenden magnetorheologischen Elastomere sind ein Verbundwerkstoff mit magnetisch steuerbaren Eigenschaften. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird ein kontinuumsmechanisches Modell zur Beschreibung der relevanten physikalischen Phänomene bereitgestellt. Die Lösung zugehöriger Randwertaufgaben basiert auf der erweiterten Finiten Elemente Methode. Zur Verifikation und Validierung des Modells werden analytische Referenzlösungen zweidimensionaler Problemstellungen herangezogen. Die Homogenisierung des magnetomechanischen Feldproblems erfolgt mit kleinen Deformationen. Aus einer Volumenmittelung der lokal inhomogenen Feldverteilungen ergeben sich makroskopische Variablen. Auf Basis dieser Größen lassen sich Aussagen über das effektive Verhalten ableiten. Somit ist neben den rein magnetischen und mechanischen Materialeigenschaften das gekoppelte magnetomechanische Verhalten analysierbar. Darunter sind aktuatorische Spannungen, magnetostriktive Dehnungen und der magnetorheologische Effekt zu verstehen. / Magnetorheological elastomers are composite materials consisting of magnetizable particles embedded in an elastic matrix. Their properties can be altered by an external magnetic field. In this work a continuum based formulation is applied to model relevant physical phenomena. Boundary value problems are solved by the extended Finite Element Method. For the purposes of verification and validation analytic solutions are provided. The homogenization of the magnetomechanical field problem is limited to small deformations. Macroscopic variables are obtained by volume averaging. In addition to macroscopic magnetic and mechanical properties the effective behavior is analyzed in terms of actuatoric stresses, magnetostrictive strains and the magnetorheological effect.

High strength, light weight and flexibility have made fabrics the preferred material for personal body armor and other impact protection applications such as passenger airbags, turbine blade containment systems, military and motorcycle helmets, and space debris shields. Recently, a shear thickening fluid has been used to treat a Kevlar fabric for an additional enhancement to the ballistic resistance of the neat fabric. Motivated by this technique of dissipation augmentation to high strength fabrics, this research aims at investigating the incorporation of other energy-dissipative materials into high strength fabrics. Specifically, two magnetic field-responsive materials (a magnetorheological fluid and Terfenol-D) have been used as a dissipation augmentation of Kevlar fabrics. No previous work has reported either experimental or computational research on the impact dynamics of Kevlar fabric treated with magnetorheological fluids or magnetostrictive solids. This research has investigated both computational modeling and experimental evaluation of the impact dynamics of textile composite armor, treated with magnetic field-responsive materials. Fragment simulating projectile impact tests have been conducted for the fabricated composite targets under an applied magnetic field. A computational model based on a hybrid particle-element method has been developed, to simulate the impact dynamics of composite fabric targets embodying magnetorheological fluids. This model is a mesoscale multiphysics model which can simulate impact dynamics including complex magneto-thermo-mechanical coupling effects as well as interactions among a projectile, fabric yarns, and magnetorheological fluid particles. Computer simulations have been performed to validate the hybrid particle-element method against experimental results. The computational method developed in this research has shown good agreement with the experimental data, in terms of the ballistic limit and residual velocity of a striking projectile. As fabric impact protection systems become more complex, and more expensive materials are introduced, computation may play a more important role in design. Therefore, the hybrid particle-element model in this dissertation may contribute to the improvement of the computational capability for virtual prototyping of fabric-interstitial fluid composites. / text

We formulate a model for acoustic excitations in a magnetorheological fluid. Constitutive equations are derived for Navier-Stokes flow coupled with Maxwell's Equations. The viscosity of the fluid is modified to reflect the dependence of waves propagating within the fluid itself and in the case where they propagate along the network of particles.

Orientador: Gustavo Luiz Chagas Manhães de Abreu / Resumo: Fluidos magnetoreológicos (MR) são fluidos capazes de alterar suas propriedadesreológicas quando um campo magnético é aplicado sobre ele. Uma das aplicações maisimportantes do fluido MR é em amortecedores de vibrações, utilizados principalmente naconstrução civil, veículos automotivos e outros sistemas mecânicos sujeitos a excitaçõesque provocam vibrações indesejáveis. Na indústria automobilística, atualmente atecnologia dos amortecedores que utilizam fluido MR vem se destacando como umasolução que pode trazer benefícios de conforto e segurança aos usuários de veículos emgeral. Este trabalho discute a modelagem não-linear de um veículo que considera adinâmica vertical, lateral e longitudinal, simulado em diferentes condições de conduçãoque buscam avaliar o conforto, a aderência à estrada, a dirigibilidade, a rolagem e adeflexão da suspensão. Pretende, também, contribuir com a área de controle de vibraçõesem suspensões veiculares que utilizam amortecedores MR, avaliando o desempenho doscontroladores ótimo (LQR), nebuloso e FEB (Frequency-Estimation-Based ) projetadosem 1/4 de veículo e aplicados ao modelo não-linear do veículo. O trabalho terminacomentando as potencialidades da metodologia apresentada, discutindo as facilidadese dificuldades encontradas na sua implementação e aponta propostas para a suacontinuidade. / Doutor