A Magneto-Thermo-Static Study of a Magneto-Rheological Fluid Damper: A Finite Element Analysis

Nowadays, the automotive industry is oriented toward the production of new generation devices, such as magnetorheological fluid (MR fluid) dampers, which have a proven simplicity of design combined with reduced maintenance. Being devices powered by steady-state electric current, MR fluid dampers develop steady-state magnetic induction fields with associated steady-state thermal stresses and a consequent constant yield stress. In this work, an asymmetric MR damper has been studied using the finite-element method (FEM). Specifically, since steady-state electric current circulates in the coil of the device, a magneto-static analysis of the device and particularly of the strip of MR fluid contained therein is performed using the FEM. Furthermore, as the device is subject to heating during operation, a thermo-static analysis was also carried out using finite elements when different external temperatures were considered. Both analyses, performed by ANSYS ToolbBox, highlighted the areas of the device most subject to magnetic stress providing useful indications on the influence of temperature both on the magnetization of the magnetic particles and on the MR fluid as a whole.