Numerical and Experimental Investigation on Small Scale Magnetorheological Damper

This paper presents the design of an Magnetorheological (MR) damper that includes an arrangement of a piston and cylinder. This study developed a 3-D model based on the finite element method (FEM) concept on the COMSOL Multiphysics to analyze and investigate the MR damper characteristics. A prototype of the MR damper is being fabricated based on the FEM model and is put through a series of experiments using the Servo-Hydraulic material testing machine (MTS). Maximum and minimum forces, 171.5235N and 249.2749N, were measured at 0.1Hz and 1Hz, respectively, for the FEM model. The fabricated model obtained similar results at 0.1Hz and 1Hz, with maximum and minimum forces of 175.9103N and 252.7765N, respectively. Comparing these two model analyses reveals that the FEM- based model accurately depicts the experimental behaviour of the MR damper in terms of its damping force, although there is minor variation. The findings of this paper will be helpful for designers in creating MR dampers that are more efficient and reliable, as well as in predicting the characteristics of their damping force.