Abstract

Ride quality of any vehicle depends on certain key factors which includes whole body vibration and noise. Thus apart from the quality of road surface, the other major factor in the maintenance of ride quality is the presence of a good suspension system. Since passive systems cannot be optimized for different terrains, semi-active and active suspension systems are being developed. The present study focuses on a new research area in the field of semi-active suspension systems i.e. Magneto-Rheological Fluid dampers. The objective of the study is to design and fabricate a MRF damper for a chosen vehicle and to then evaluate its performance in a test rig designed for that purpose. A two degree of freedom quarter car model of the suspension system of the vehicle is developed. The equations of motion of this model are then converted to state space equations and simulated in MATLAB. The responses of the simulated suspension system to different kinds of bump profiles are plotted for different velocity inputs. Using these plots, the optimization of the damping coefficient is carried out. These optimum values are then used in the geometric design of the damper which is then modelled in SOLIDWORKS to check for the materials to be used in the manufacturing processes by using stress and strain analysis. The final CAD model is then used to manufacture the damper and to design an experimental setup where the performance of the damper is evaluated.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Xiaocong Zhu et al. [1] discuss typical magneto-rheological dampers according to the arrangement configurations of magneto-rheological fluid cylinders and magneto-rheological fluid control valves. They also provide reinforced structure designs of magneto-rheological fluid dampers which focus on coil configuration, fluid resistance channel design, and electromagnetic design. Thereafter they describe design issues of MRF damper systems which involve sensorbased, self-powered, fail-safe and integrated spring MRF damper systems. Importantly, to have a systematic quantitative viewpoint of the analysis and design of magneto-rheological fluid dampers, the review ends with a summary of performance analysis issues, including performance specification, analytical modelling, parameter optimization etc. Umit Dogruer et al. [2] worked on the design, development and testing of a new fail-safe semi active magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) damper for a high-mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicle (HMIMWV). A fail-safe MRF damper is referred to as a device, which retains a minimum damping capacity required in the event of a power supply or electronic system failure. The design the proposed MRF damper by using a disk shaped magneto-rheological (MR) valve. The MR valve occurs in the space between two fixed parallel disks with radial flow. They employ Bingham plastic fluid model and a three dimensional finite element electro-magnetic analysis to theoretically analyse the proposed MRF damper. They also present experimental and

theoretical results for force-displacement and force-time behaviour of the damper under different harmonic input motion and various input magnetic fields. A. Ashfak et al. [3] worked on the design, fabrication and evaluation of magneto-rheological damper. They studied the application of an MRF damper to vibration control, design the vibration damper using MR fluids, test and evaluate its performance. They also describe rheology and the theory behind MR fluids and their use on vibration control. They also design and fabricate a MR vibration damper suitable for vehicle suspension and test it using a dynamic test rig to obtain results in the form of force vs. velocity and the force vs. displacement plots. S.Q. Abu-Ein et al. [4] worked on the application of MR dampers in automobile suspensions, and why the two would be a good combination. An experimental investigation was carried out by them to show the efficiency of using such fluids on suspension systems of the automobiles. The MRF dampers provided a more stable ride than that of the OEM dampers. By reducing suspension displacement, settling time, and suspension oscillations, the MRF dampers were able to reduce suspension geometry instability. It is also found by them that the efficiency of damper used in this study increases by using MR fluids, and this efficiency increases as the current applied on the MR damper increase. Zhongzhe et al. (2008) [5] describe that the RMS of the displacement of a sprung mass is frequently used to evaluate the riding quality of a vehicle. A riders comfort also improves as the acceleration decreases. Ride comfort is chosen to be the design criterion. Liao et al. (2002) [6] demonstrated experimentally and theoretically a quarter car suspension system using mathematical model of MRF damper to control the vibration of sprung and unsprung masses.

FABRICATION OF DAMPER

2.1 CAD Modelling Computer aided designs were prepared for different components (such as piston cylinder, piston rod, accumulator plate, piton rod guide, outer cylinder etc.) of the damper with their engineering drawings. Motion studies and stress simulations are also being carried out to find out the appropriate materials for these parts.

2.2 Manufacturing the damper Appropriate materials were selected for different parts of the damper and manufacturing was carried out according to a specific plan. Most of the parts were not welded to one another and were instead made detachable so that subsequent experimental process could be simplified, i.e., MR fluid could be filled and drained out easily, Coil winding inside the piston could be changed etc. A presta valve was also fitted at the bottom so that air could be filled in the accumulator at the required pressure.

2.3

Preparation of MR Fluid

3 4 EXPERIMENTAL SETUP

Oscilloscope

Charge Amplifier Load Cell Display

Accelerometer

DC Power Supply

MRF Damper

Vibrator

Function Generator