Development of laboratory class experiment to characterize magneto-rheological fluid

An experimental apparatus has been developed that characterizes magneto-rheological (MR) fluid for an MIT Mechanical Engineering laboratory class by charting the fluid's yield stress versus magnetic field strength. The apparatus consists of a cantilevered beam that is damped using MR fluid, through which a magnetic field is varied. Unique functional requirements for a class experiment as well as experimental design rationale are also discussed. Lord's MRF-336AG MR fluid is characterized at low magnetic field strengths and compared to the company provided data. Experimental data suggest the magnetic field strength affects the fluid yield stress more greatly than the company data, though both data show similar general trends. This discrepancy likely comes from approximations for damper velocity made in the analysis. Both a Bingham plastic and Newtonian model are used to describe the fluid and based on the similarity of the results from both models at low field strengths, it is concluded that MR fluid can be modeled as a Newtonian fluid for field strengths between 0 and 4 kAmp/m.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Ray, Stephen D. (Stephen Douglas)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Douglas P. Hart.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45299

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/45299