© June 2017 | IJIRT | Volume 4 Issue 1 | ISSN: 2349-6002

Design, Fabricate and Experimentally Evaluate the

Performance of Magnetorheological Fluid Damper

Shubham Shrimandil1, Saurabh Zambare2, Vivek Singh Rawat3 and Abhijeet Pawar4
1,2,3,4
Shubham Shrimandil, SVPM College of Engineering
Abstract—The aim of this work is to design, fabricate and
experimentally analyze the performance of MR damper
(prototype). The basic function of a damper is to mitigate
the vibration of the system and minimize fatigue of the
components of system. MR damper is electromechanical
device whose damping can be controlled by controlling
the current flowing through the electromagnetic coils.
Design of MR damper involves hydraulic and magnetic
circuit design. These types of dampers are proving to be
Before magnetic field After magnetic field
one of the alternatives to conventional dashpot damping,
as conventional dampers cannot adjust to varying forces, applied is applied
whereas MR damper being controllable will adjust to Figure 1 :- Behavior of MR fluid before and after
varying forces. application of magnetic field

Index Terms—Magneto-rheological (MR) fluid, MR MR fluid contains micron sized magnetisable iron
damper, magnetic flux density, magnetic field intensity, particles which are randomly distributed.
dynamic range.

I. INTRODUCTION II. MR DAMPER DESIGN

Magnetorheological fluid is known as the smart fluid, It is known that its performance depends upon the
changes its rheological property on application of magnetic and hydraulic circuit design.
magnetic field. Basically MR fluid is mixture of a) Damper geometry-
magnetisable iron particles with typically micron sizes
are suspended within the low viscosity paraffin oil. On
the application of magnetic field the suspended iron
particles get aligned, due to this reason the density of
fluid changes. As the magnetic field density changes,
the fluid density also get changed. Basically MR fluid
can be works on the three modes according to
applications. These three modes are as follows:
 Flow mode
 Direct shear mode
 Squeeze mode
Basically flow mode is used in shock absorbers and Figure 2:- Dimensions of piston and cylinder.
dampers, direct shear mode is useful in brakes and
Where,
clutches, and squeeze mode is used for controlling
g- Width of MR fluid working gap,
small movements with large force.
D- Diameter of piston
For damper application flow mode is used. In flow
L- Length of the piston
mode fluid is presents between two stationary wall
t- Thickness of cylinder and
referred as north and south pole.
d- Hole diameter for piston rod

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b) Hydraulic circuit design-

The MR fluid damper devices operate in pressure The damper resisting force can be decomposed into a
driven flow mode. The fluid flow in the annular gap controllable force Fτ due to controllable yield stress τy
between the piston and the cylinder housing during and uncontrollable force Fuc. The uncontrollable force
motion of the MR damper piston. Assuming damper includes a viscous force Fη and a friction force Ff. By
moves with a constant velocity, fluid flow is fully definition, the dynamic range is the ratio between the
developed, a simple Bingham plastic model may be total damper output force F and the uncontrollable
employed to describe the MR fluid behavior. The force Fuc :
𝐹𝜏
Bingham plasticity model the flow is governed by 𝜆 =1+ (3)
𝐹η +𝐹𝑓
(Bingham’s equations):
𝑤⋅𝑔⋅𝑣𝑝 12⋅𝜂⋅Q⋅L
τ= τy(H) + η⋅ γ̇ ; τy > τ (1) 𝐹𝜂 = (𝐴𝑝 ⋅ 𝑣𝑝 + )⋅ (4)
2 𝑔3 ⋅w
(in the absence of a magnetic field τ ≈ η⋅ 𝛾̇ ) 𝑐⋅𝜏𝑦 ⋅𝐿⋅𝐴𝑝
𝐹𝜏 = ⋅ 𝑠𝑔𝑛(𝑣𝑝 ) C ~ [2.07, 3.07] (5)
H is the magnetic field, γ is the fluid shear rate, η is the 𝑔

plastic viscosity (i.e. viscosity at H=0).

Figure 3 shows a typical shear stress diagram and
velocity profile of the Bingham plastic shear flow in
the annular gap. In regions I and II, the shear stress
crossed the yield stress therefore the fluid flows. In
region C, the shear stress is lower than the yield stress,
so no shear flow occurs; this is often referred to as the
plug flow region.

Figure 4: Force vs. velocity of piston

The controllable force Fτ which indicates that the

controllable force range is inversely related to the gap
size g. The controllable force should be as large as
possible, to maximize the effectiveness of MR
damper, therefore a small gap size is required. But, a
small gap size decreases the dynamic range.
The expression of dynamic range D in can be rewritten
Figure 3 : Stress and velocity profiles through annular
as
duct
𝑐 ⋅ 𝜏𝑦 ⋅ 𝐿 ⋅ 𝐴𝑝
In an analogous fashion, the pressure drop developed 𝐷 = 1+ 𝑤⋅g 12⋅𝜂⋅𝐴𝑝 ⋅𝑣𝑝 ⋅L
(𝐴𝑝 + ) ⋅ 2
in a device based on pressure driven flow mode is 2 𝑔 ⋅w

commonly assumed to result from the sum of a viscous (6)

2
component ΔPη and a field dependent induced yield π[(𝑑𝑐𝑦𝑙 −2⋅g) −𝑑 2 𝑠ℎ ]
Where, 𝐴𝑃 = ;
4
stress component ΔPτ . This pressure may be
approximated by:
12⋅𝜂⋅Q⋅L 𝑐⋅τ𝑦 ⋅L 𝑤 = π(𝑑𝑐𝑦𝑙 − 2 ⋅ g);
∆𝑃 = ∆𝑃𝜂 + Δ𝑃τ = + (2)
𝑔3 ⋅w 𝑔
Where L, g and w are the length, gap and width of 𝑄 = 𝐴𝑝 ⋅ 𝑣𝑝
the flow channel between the fixed poles, Q is the
volumetric flow rate, η is the fluid viscosity with no c) Magnetic circuit design:
applied field and τy is the yield stress developed in Task is to determine number of turns, the part of the
response to an applied field. The control ratio or assembly which will saturate first and accordingly
dynamic range (λ=ΔPτ / ΔPη). selection of material

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In which 𝜇𝑀𝑅 is the magnetic permeability of MR

fluid. Consequently magnetic potential of the MR
fluid gap is:
2𝑔
Φ 𝐷(𝐵𝑆𝑚𝑅 )𝑙𝑛(1+ )
𝐹𝑔 = = 𝐷
(10)
𝛬𝑔 2𝜇0 𝜇𝑚𝑅

Similarly we can find magnetic potential of other

magnetic parts. We divide the magnetic loop into three
parts as illustrated in Fig.

Figure 5: magnetic circuit or magnetic loop.

The flux passes through the coil axially, expands

radially outward through the disc at one end, through
one MR fluid gap, back along the iron sleeve, radially
inward through the disc at the other end and back into
the core completing the circuit.
MR fluid devices are usually designed such that the
MR fluid can be, or nearly can be, magnetically
saturated. It is under this condition that the fluid will Figure 6:- conductor magnetic reluctance calculation
generate its maximum yield stress τy. However, the
Part 1, part 2, part 3 and magnetic fluid gap comprises
value τy that is used in the above equations should be
of magnetic loop.
chosen from the MR fluid specification sheets to
reflect the anticipated operating condition.
Part 1, the magnetic reluctance is:
According to the magnetic Ohm’s law, the magnetic 𝐿−2𝑏
circuit parameters are magnetic reluctance Rm, 𝑅𝑚1 = 𝜋 (11)
𝜇0 𝜇𝑟𝑝 [(𝐷−2ℎ)2 −𝑑 2 ]
4
magnetic flux Φ and magnetic potential F, and Part 2, the magnetic reluctance is:
formulas 1 comes into existence: 𝐹 = 𝑅𝑚 𝛷 ,in the 𝐷−𝑑

formulas, magnetic potential, F=NI magnetic flux, 𝑅𝑚2 = 2

(12)
𝜇0 𝜇𝑟𝑝 ∙𝜋𝐷𝑏
Φ = ∮ 𝐵𝑑𝑆 (Wb), N is the coil turn number, and I is Part 3, the magnetic reluctance is:
the current through the coil. Assuming the magnetic 𝑅𝑚3 =
𝐿−𝑏
(13)
𝑡
flow area is S(m2) , the average length of magnetic 𝜇0 𝜇𝑟ℎ 𝜋[𝐷+𝑔+ ]𝑡
2

circuit is l(m) , relative magnetic permeability is μr ,so Where, 𝜇𝑟𝑝 , 𝜇𝑟ℎ is the relative magnetic permeability
the magnetic reluctance Rmcan formulated as: of piston and cylinder material respectively. So, the
𝑅𝑚 =
𝑙
=
𝐿
(AT/Wb ) (7) whole magnetic reluctance of magnetic loop is
𝜇𝑆 𝜇𝑅 𝜇𝑂 𝑆
R= 𝑅𝑚1 + 2 𝑅𝑚2 +𝑅𝑚3
Getting the magnetic induction of MR fluid from the
The whole magnetic potential is:
test curve, and assuming the saturation magnetic 1
induction is BSMR, shear stress is τ, the magnetic field 𝐹 = 𝛷 (𝑅 + ) = 𝛷( 𝑅𝑚1 2 𝑅𝑚2 + 𝑅𝑚3 +
𝛬𝑔
is uniform in the MR fluid gap, when the gap width g 2𝑔
𝑙𝑛(1+ 𝐷 )
is much smaller than the diameter D, the magnetic flux ) (14)
𝜇0 𝜇𝑚𝑅 𝜋𝑏
can be expressed as: We can determine the upper limit of excitation current
Φ = ∮ 𝐵𝑑𝑆 = 𝐵𝑆𝑀𝑅 πDb (8) Imax and demanded coil turns should be
We can formulate the magnetic permeance as: 𝑁=
𝐹
; (15)
2𝜋𝜇𝑙 2𝜋𝑏𝜇0 𝜇𝑚𝑅 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝛬𝑔 = 𝑅 = 2𝑔 (9) Assuming the material saturation magnetic induction
𝑙𝑛( ) 𝑙𝑛(1+ )
𝑟 𝐷
of MR fluid, piston and cylinder is BSMR, BSpiston,
BScylinder and the magnetic flux area is SMR, S1, S2, S3
respectively, multiply the saturation magnetic

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induction with flux area, the lowest value will get

saturated first.
𝐵𝑆𝑚𝑅 = 0.6𝑇 𝐵𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 = 2.5𝑇
𝑆𝑚𝑅 (𝐵𝑆𝑚𝑅 ) = 𝜋𝐷𝑏(𝐵𝑆𝑚𝑅 )
𝜋
𝑆1 (𝐵𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 ) = [(𝐷 − 2ℎ)2 − 𝑑 2 ](𝐵𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 )
4
𝑆2 (𝐵𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 ) = 𝜋𝐷𝑏(𝐵𝑆𝑝𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛 )
𝑡
𝑆3 (𝐵𝑆𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑐 ) = 𝜇0 𝜇𝑟ℎ 𝜋 [𝐷 + 𝑔 + ] 𝑡(𝐵𝑆𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑐 )
2
(d) Forced Vibration Due Rotating Unbalance
Consider a machine with a rotating unbalance Fig: FBD of system
supported on spring and a damper. (i.e. mounted on an
elastic support) Consider F.B.D of machine shown in Fig.
Let, m is total mass of machine including unbalanced ∑[𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 + 𝐸𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 ] = 0
mass in kg, mo is unbalanced mass in kg, e is (𝑚 − 𝑚0 )𝑥̈ + (𝑚𝑜 𝑥̈ − 𝑚𝑜 ω2 e sin ωt ) + c𝑥̇ +
eccentricity of unbalanced mass m, ω is angular 𝐾𝑥 = 0
velocity of rotation of unbalanced mass (i.e. circular 𝑚𝑥̈ − 𝑚0 𝑥̈ + 𝑚0 𝑥̈ − 𝑚𝑜 ω2 e sin ωt + c𝑥̇ + 𝐾𝑥 = 0
frequency of external excitation force) in rad/s, K is 𝑚𝑥̈ + c𝑥̇ + 𝐾𝑥 = 𝑚𝑜 ω2 e sin ωt (16)
spring stiffness of the support in N/m, c is damping This equation is linear; second order differential
coefficient in N-s/m equation, of motion for forced damped vibrations due
to rotating unbalance. ∴ 𝑚𝑥̈ + c𝑥̇ + 𝐾𝑥 =
2
𝐹𝑜 sin ωt ; 𝐹𝑜 = 𝑚𝑜 𝜔 𝑒
The complete solution for differential equation is,
X = 𝑥𝑐 + 𝑥𝑝 (17)
𝑥 = 𝑋1 𝑒 −𝜉𝜔𝑛 𝑡 sin [√1 − 𝜉 2 𝜔𝑛 𝑡 + ∅1 ]
𝑚𝑜 ω2 e sin ωt
+
𝜔 2 𝜔 2
√[1 − ( ) ] + [2𝜉 ]
𝜔𝑛 𝜔𝑛
Amplitude of steady state vibration 𝑋=
Equilibriu Displaced Displaced position 𝑚𝑜 e 𝜔2 /K
m position position with
with angle of rotation √[1−(
𝜔 2 𝜔
) ]+[2𝜉 ]2
Let, angle of rotation 𝜔𝑛 𝜔𝑛
of unb- alance of unbalance rotating
 Total vertical displace 𝑚𝑜 e 𝜔2 /m𝜔𝑛 2
rotating mass =0 mass =ωt = , [∵ 𝐾 = 𝑚𝜔𝑛 2 ]
𝜔 2 𝜔
 Total vertical displacement of mass of machine √[1 − ( ) ]+ [2𝜉 ]2
𝜔𝑛 𝜔𝑛
excluding unbalanced rotating mass (m -mo) = x. 𝑚𝑜 𝑒 𝜔 2
( )
𝑚 𝜔𝑛
 Total vertical displacement of unbalanced =
𝜔 2 𝜔 2
rotating mass mo =(x + e sin ωt ) √[1 − ( ) ] + [2𝜉 ]
𝜔𝑛 𝜔𝑛
𝜔 2
 Inertia force due to mass of machine excluding 𝑋 (
𝜔𝑛
)
unbalanced rotating mass (𝑚 − 𝑚𝑜 𝑒 = (18)
( ) 𝜔 2 𝜔 2
𝑚0 ) = (𝑚 − 𝑚𝑜) 𝑥̈ 𝑚 √[1 − ( ) ] + [2𝜉 ]
𝜔𝑛 𝜔𝑛
 Inertia force due to unbalanced rotating mass 𝑚𝑜 This equation gives the dimensionless steady-state
𝑑2 amplitude. Also, this equation is used to determine
= 𝑚𝑜 (𝑥 + 𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 )
𝑑𝑡 2
damping factor (𝜉) as dimensionless steady-state
= 𝑚𝑜 (𝑥̈ + e sin ω2
amplitude and frequency ration is known.
=(𝑚𝑜 + 𝑚𝑜 ω2 e sin ωt )
On the basis of trial and error method, considering
 Spring force = Kx
hydraulic, magnetic circuits and mechanics the
 Damping force =c 𝑥̇
optimum design was obtained as:

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L=50 mm, b=10 mm, t=4 mm, h=8 mm d=10 mm, fixture. The top piston end is attached to cantilever on
D=36 mm. which motor and disc are mounted. By using
Sr Part Type of Material Type arrangement of L clamp the piston end is attached to
No name material cantilever. Electric supply to magnetic coil is given by
1 Piston Magnetic Low 1020 a DC regulated power supply which has a current
carbon range of 0-2 Amp and voltage range of 0-12 V. The
steel vibrations are given to the MR damper through
2 Cylinde Magnetic Low 1020 unbalance created by mounting disc on rotating motor.
r carbon The amplitude of vibration can be varied by varying
steel motor speed.
3 Cylinde Magnetic Martensi -
r head tic IV. CONCLUSIONS
steelMS
4 Wire Non- Copper 26 a) Displacement vs. Current
magnetic wire AW
G
5 Collar Magnetic MS plate -

6 L-clamp Any L bar -

metal
Table 1: Selection of material

Figure 9: Input current in Amp vs. displacement in mm

As seen in the graph as the current increases the

Figure 7: Manufactured MR damper
III. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE:
Figure 8: Experimental setup.
displacement of damper decreases. So current is one
of the main governing factors to control the damping
of damper. Initially when no current is passed (in
absence of magnetic field) the damper acts as
conventional damper, but when the current increases
slightly there is a drastic change in displacement i.e.
displacement decreases which implies damping
increases. Displacement decreases up to certain
current limit (I=2 Amp) after which displacement is
constant i.e. magnetic field saturates.
b) Damping factor (ζ) vs frequency ratio (ω/ωn)
As seen from the graph if the frequency ratio
increases the damping factor also increases linearly.
For the same frequency ratio the damping factor
increases as the current in the coil increases. Rate of
increase of damping factor is increasing as the current
is increasing.

The testing of MR damper is carried out on a universal

damper testing machine as follows: The MR Damper
is fixed on the middle frame test rig with help of

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the yield stress, pole length ,piston radius, and the gap
width will play an important role in searching for the
right configuration.
REFERENCES
[1] Gheorghe Ghiţă, Marius Giuclea Tudor
Sireteanu- Modelling Of Dynamic Behaviour
Of Magnetorheological Fluid Damper By
Genetic Algorithms Based Inverse, The 6th
International Conference on Hydraulic
Machinery and Hydrodynamics Timisoara,
Figure 10: Damping factor vs. frequency ratio
Romania, October 21 - 22, 2004.
c) Dynamic range [2] Zekeriya Parlak, Tahsin Engin- Time-
Dynamic range is the ratio of total damper force to dependent CFD and quasi-static analysis of
uncontrollable force. magnetorheological fluid dampers with
2
π[(𝑑𝑐𝑦𝑙 −2⋅g) −𝑑 2 𝑠ℎ ] experimental validation. International Journal
𝐴𝑃 = = 8.2938×10-4 m2
4 of Mechanical Sciences 64 (2012) 22–31.
𝑤 = π(𝑑𝑐𝑦𝑙 − 2 ⋅ g)=0.1068 [3] Honghui Zhang Changrong Weimin Chen
g = 0.001 m Shanglian Huang- A magnetic design method
𝜂 = 0.5 𝑃𝑎𝑠 of MR fluiddampers and FEM analysis on
𝑣𝑝 = 0.035 𝑚/𝑠 magnetic saturation, papered P.R.C.
L=0.07 [4] G.Z. Yao , F Yap, G. Chen, W.H. Li, S.H. Yeo
c=2.07 MR damper and its application for semi-active
𝜏𝑦 = 44 𝑘𝑃𝑎 control of vehicle suspension system
𝑤𝑔𝑣𝑝 12𝜂QL Mechatronics 12 (2002) 963–973.
𝐹𝜂 = (𝐴𝑝 𝑣𝑝 + )⋅ = 3.5271 𝑁
2 𝑔3 w [5] Izyan M. Yazid, Saiful A. Mazlan, Takehito
𝑐𝜏𝑦 𝐿𝐴𝑝 Kikuchi and Hairi Zamzuri Magnetic Circuit
𝐹𝜏 = ⋅ sgn(vp ) = 185.07 N
𝑔 Optimizationin Designing Magnetorheological
𝐹𝜏 Damper world congress on advances in
𝐷 = 1+
𝐹η + 𝐹𝑓 structural engineering and mechanics, Korea
𝑐 ⋅ 𝜏𝑦 ⋅ 𝐿 ⋅ 𝐴𝑝 sept 8-12,2013
𝐷 = 1+ 𝑤⋅g 12⋅𝜂⋅𝐴𝑝 ⋅𝑣𝑝 ⋅L = 53.4741
(𝐴𝑝 + ) ⋅ 2
[6] M. Braz Cesar1, R. Carneiro de Barros-
2 𝑔 ⋅w
12 ⋅ 𝜂 ⋅ Q ⋅ L Properties And Numerical Modeling Of Mr
∆𝑃𝜂 = = 114.152 𝑘𝑃𝑎 Dampers, 15th International Conference on
𝑔3 ⋅ w
𝑐 ⋅ τ𝑦 ⋅ L Experimental Mechanics PAPER REF: 4050
Δ𝑃τ = = 6375.6 𝑘𝑃𝑎 [7] G. Sailaja N. Seetharamaiah M. Janardhana-
𝑔
12 ⋅ 𝜂 ⋅ Q ⋅ L 𝑐 ⋅ τ𝑦 ⋅ L design and finite element analysis of MR fluid
∆𝑃 = ∆𝑃𝜂 + Δ𝑃τ = + damper for structural vibration mitigation
𝑔3 ⋅ w 𝑔
International Journal of Mechanical
= 6489.752 𝑘𝑃𝑎
Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume
Dynamic range can also be defined as
∆𝑃𝜂 7, Issue 4, July–Aug 2016, pp.143–151.
𝐷= = 56.85 [8] Q H Nguyen, S B Choi and K S Kim-
Δ𝑃τ
As the dynamic range of the damper is high (lower Geometric Optimal Design of MR Damper
viscous force i.e. lower off-state forces at zero input Considering Damping Force, Control Energy
current and higher controllable force), the damper has and Time Constant in 11th Conference on
wide range of control and can perform satisfactorily. Eletrorheological Fluids and
D is desired as large as possible to maximize the Magnetorheological Suspensions Journal of
effectiveness of an MR damper. Parameters such as Physics: Conference Series 149- Korea (2009)
012076.

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[9] James Poynor-Innovative Designs for

Magneto-Rheological Dampers, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University,
2003.
[10] Guangqiang Yang Large scale
magnetorheological fluid damper for vibration
mitigation modeling, testing and control,
December 2001
[11] The shock absorber handbook, 2nd ed., Wiley
Professional Engineering Publishing Series,
John C. Dixon,2007, pp. 302-332.

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