Short Paper

Proc. of Int. Conf. on Recent Trends in Mechanical, Instrumentation and Thermal Engineering 2011

Cost Effective Magnetorheological Fluid

Future of Automatic Vibration Damper
Mr. Arupratan Ghosh
School of Mechanical Engineering
SRM University, Kattankulathur
Tamilnadu-603203, India
e-mail: arupbankura@[Link]
Contact: +918144806562

Abstract—Magneto-rheological Fluids are type of smart II. MECHANISM BEHIND MR-FLUID

material comes under the category of smart fluids. The
properties of magneto-rheological fluid depend on its MR fluids use magnetiseable particles suspended in a
compositions and their proportion. In normal condition MR- non-magnetiseable carrier liquid. In both cases of ER-Fluid
fluid behaves like a liquid but when a magnetic field is applied and MR-Fluid the flow mechanism is the same: excitation of
through it, MR-fluid behaves like a solid (semi-solid in the fluid by the appropriate field (electric or magnetic,
practical cases). Normally oil of higher density like vegetable respectively) causes polarization and subsequent alignment
oil can be used as matrix material and very fine magnetic of the particles suspended within the liquid. The resulting
particles like iron particles can be used as suspended particles
chain structure is held in place by the applied field, and hence
on the matrix. For the stabilization and longer life of the MR-
fluid some additives materials are mixed proportionately with
resists fluid flow. The resulting behavior is analogous to the
the composition. For its unique property, MR-Fluids can be class of fluids known as Bingham plastics – non-Newtonian
used in industries to protect a machine while it is vibrating fluids capable of developing a yield stress. For MR-Fluids,
above its permissible vibration range. Even it can be used as this yield stress is a function of the applied magnetic field.
earthquake damper in earthquake prone areas. The However, once this yield stress is exceeded, the behavior of
manufacturing cost of M R-fluid increases due to the the smart fluid deviates from that of a Bingham plastic. This
application of very expensive additives. In this paper the main is attributable to a breakdown of the chains of particles under
properties of Magneto-rheological Fluid, the mechanism the forces of the fluid flow, and results in a shear-stress /
behind them and its scope as a vibration damper. And also
shear-rate characteristic that is highly non-linear. When used
manufacturing process of an additive-less and cost effective
MR-fluid is highlighted.
in a damping device, the result is a damper whose force /
velocity characteristic is non-linear, but can be changed by
Keywords-component; Smart Materials, Smart Fluid, way of the applied electric or magnetic field. As mentioned
Magnetorheological Fluid, Vibration damper, Zero Additive earlier this fluid is a suspension of magnetisable micron sized
MR Fluid. particles over a matrix of non-magnetisable liquid (generally
hydrocarbon oil or silicon oil). In normal condition the
I. INTRODUCTION particles move haphazardly in its matrix and so has no effect
on the fluid property of the liquid. But when an external
MR- Fluid is a fluid whose properties (like viscosity, yield
magnetic field is applied, each of the moving magnetisable
stress) can be changed by applying external magnetic field.
particles acts as magnets and thus forms magnetic dipoles
Without an effect of external magnetic or electric field, MR-
with each other and arranged in a liner manner with a strong
fluid behaves like a liquid but when an external magnetic field
dipole strength and high dipole moment. So the movement of
is applied it becomes solid(or semisolid) in a fraction of a
each layer of the fluid is resisted by the dipole moment of the
second. These fluids are indeed non-homogeneous
suspended particles. As the particles are strongly bound to
suspensions of polarizable micron-sized particles that form
each other they will show this characteristic and hence the
chain like structures upon the application of the external field.
viscosity of the fluid enhances instantly to a very high value
The particle chains are parallel to the field direction and
resulting in sudden increment of the yield stress value and
restrict the fluid flow, requiring a minimum field dependent
thus the liquid turns to solid with much higher viscosity and
shear stress (called yield stress) for the flow to be initiated. It
yield stress instantly within a fraction of a second.
is also important to avoid confusion between
magnetorheological fluids and colloidal ferrofluids composed
of nano-sized particles. Ferrofluids are also attracted by a
magnetic field but do not exhibit any rheological change (and
in particular, no yield stress) MR-fluids exhibit a broader
operating temperature range (“40æ%C to +150æ%C, limited
by the properties of the carrier fluid) and are insensitive to
impurities. The researches conducted on MR-fluids since
the beginning of the 1990s led to some major developments
Figure:1 schematic visualization
and commercial successes, especially in the car industry.
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© 2011 AMAE
DOI: [Link].2011.01.1
Short Paper
Proc. of Int. Conf. on Recent Trends in Mechanical, Instrumentation and Thermal Engineering 2011

C. Additives
Many types of additives, often proprietary, are used in
MR-fluid formulations. They have many purposes such as:
inhibit particle settling and agglomeration, reduce friction,
and prevent particle oxidation and wear. Tween- 80,
Polysorbate-40 are few commercially available additives.

IV. MR-FLUID VIBRATION DAMPER

Figure. 2 On state and off state flow properties Engineers in Japan were the first to install MRF damping
With more number of suspended particles the dipole moment technology to help stabilize buildings against earthquakes
will increase and so the yield stress under effect of magnetic and the diagonal cables of China’s Dong Ting Lake bridge
field will increase. But there is a drawback of this. As the are kept steady in high winds by the technology. Although
suspended particles are heavier than the fluid after a certain MRF damping systems are costly to implement, Scientists
time period they may sediment and so the magnetorheological believes the investment would prove worthwhile for critical
effect will vanish. So it is clear that all MR-Fluid has a certain structures such as hospitals and major data centers.
and short life period. To enhance the life period different
additives are used. The additives prevent the particle from
sedimentation up to a certain extent. The density of the oil
used as matrix should be higher for the same reason and also
the finer size of the particles increases the life of MR-Fluid.
Additives may be proposed which makes a coat surrounding
the suspended particles so that the buoyancy increases. This
also can increase the life span of the MR-Fluid.

III. MR-FLUID COMPOSITIONS

MR-fluid formulation consists of three main components:
Figure. 3 MRF operated vibration damper
magnetizable particles (with a volume fraction typically
between 20% and 45%), a carrier fluid and an association of MR-Fluid can be used in machines to protect them when
various additives. The proper selection and combination of they vibrate violently exceeding their permissible vibration
these components is of prime importance since it will define range. For example, as shown in the diagram, a piston is
all the macroscopic characteristics of the fluid such as its off- moving in a cavity the cavity is full of MR-Fluid. There are
state viscosity, its maximum yield stress, its resistance to flow control gaps in the piston through which MR-fluid flows
settling, its operating temperature range. with the movement of piston. Electromagnets are placed
adjacent to the flow control gaps with which a sensor is
A. Suspended particles connected with remote computer, is attached. When the
The most widely used material for MR-fluid particles is movement or frequency of the piston exceeds the permissible
carbonyl iron, thanks to its high saturation magnetization. range the flow velocity of MR-Fluids through the flow control
Carbonyl iron powder is obtained by the thermal gap exceeds and as programmed in the computer the circuits
decomposition of iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)5), leading to of the electromagnets are connected and hence they produce
highly spherical particles in the 1-10µm range. The spherical steady magnetic field through MR-fluid. As a result the
shape is of particular interest since it makes the particles less viscosity of the MR-fluid raises very highly and it acts like a
abrasive, more robust and durable. These particles are further semi-solid and opposes the motion of the piston. But when
characterized by an onion skin structure and an iron content the frequency of the piston comes to its permissible range
up to 97.8%. highly irregular particles lead to higher fluid the computer withdraws the electric flow in the circuit
viscosity compared to spherical particles at the same volume connecting electromagnets and hence the magnetic field
fraction. disappears. so the MR-fluid again starts behaving like a liquid
and the piston can move freely. The entire process need less
B. Carrier Fluid than a second or two to complete.
Carrier fluids are selected based on their intrinsic
viscosity, their temperature stability and their compatibility
with other materials of the device. The most common carrier
fluids are hydrocarbon oils, which can either be mineral oils
or synthetic oils (or a combination of both), thanks to their
good lubrication, durability and the availability of a large
range of additives.
Figure. 4 road grip vs current
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© 2011 AMAE
DOI: [Link].2011.01.1
Short Paper
Proc. of Int. Conf. on Recent Trends in Mechanical, Instrumentation and Thermal Engineering 2011

This shows that the road grip of the car increases with The off state viscosity of MR-fluid will raise to an intermediate
increasing input current. As current is directly proportional working viscosity which will be slightly higher than the off
to the induced magnetic flux in the electromagnet, it is proved state viscosity but much lower than on-state viscosity of
in other way that yield stress resistivity of MR-Fluid increases MR-fluid. This is a cutting edge technique but can effectively
with increasing magnetic flux. slash down the cost of MR-Fluid by getting rid of the
expensive additives.
V. ZERO ADDITIVE MR-FLUID
The main difficulty in the preparation of MR-Fluid is with
its very poor stability. As discussed earlier to increase its
stability and life span very expensive additives are used. In
deed these additives increases the cost of manufacturing
MR-Fluid. As mentioned earlier the other manufacturing
needs of MR-fluid are not expensive at all. Just an amount of
vegetable oil and proportional quantity of iron particles can
easily form MR-Fluid. But only the additives used are making
this useful material very expensive in world market as only
LORD’s corporation has the right to commercially
manufacture the MR-Fluid additives. In this paper the idea of Figure. 5 zero additive Mr fluid
Zero additive mechanical MR-Fluid and an intermediate state
viscosity are proposed. Without using any additive, use of a ACKNOWLEDGMENT
controlled magnetic field is proposed. As the on state yield Mrs. A. Vijaya, (Asst. professor) School of mechanical
stress of MR-Fluid is directly proportional to the magnetic engineering. SRM University.
flux, introduction of a controlled and low magnetic flux will
generate a negligible amount of yield stress but can fix the REFERENCES
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© 2011 AMAE
DOI: [Link].2011.01.1