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Development of an MR-brake-based haptic device

Article  in  Smart Materials and Structures · November 2006

DOI: 10.1088/0964-1726/15/6/052

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INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES
Smart Mater. Struct. 15 (2006) 1960–1966 doi:10.1088/0964-1726/15/6/052

Development of an MR-brake-based
haptic device
B Liu, W H Li1 , P B Kosasih and X Z Zhang
School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong,
Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

E-mail: weihuali@uow.edu.au

Received 28 October 2005, in final form 26 September 2006

Published 13 November 2006
Online at stacks.iop.org/SMS/15/1960
Abstract
This paper describes the design, testing and modelling of a
magneto-rheological (MR) fluid brake as well as its application in a haptic
device. The MR device, in disc shape, is composed of a rotary shaft and
plate, an electromagnetic coil, MR fluids, and casings. The working principle
of the actuator is discussed and the transmitted torque equation employed by
using the Bingham plastic model. The optimal dimensions of the actuator
were obtained by finite-element analysis using the COSMOSEMS package.
Following manufacturing and fabrication of the actuator prototype, the
steady-state performance of the MR actuator was measured using a force
gauge. The experimental results show that the actuator exhibits hysteresis
behaviour. A sub-hysteresis model was then proposed and the model
parameters were identified. Example applications of this actuator in virtual
reality are demonstrated.
(Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

1. Introduction
MR fluids have attracted considerable interest in both
academic and industrial fields based on their unique
characteristics [1, 2]. A variety of valuable outcomes have been
used in various products, which contribute tremendously to
industry developments and our daily lives. The most successful
applications of MR devices are dampers or shock absorbers for
vehicles and other applications requiring vibration control. For
example, damper suspension equipment is used in a vehicle
seat control system to compromise shock and vibration control
in response to the levels of shock and road vibration [3].
Another innovative commercial application for an MR fluid is
in the polishing of optical lenses. Compared to conventional
polishing, MR fluid works as a compliant polishing lap,
with which the shape and stiffness of the polisher can be
magnetically manipulated and controlled in real time [4].
MR devices have also found commercial application as
exercise equipment. The Lord Corporation developed rotary
brakes (model MRB-2107-3) [5, 6], which adopt a rotor that
spins through a chamber filled with MR fluid. The magnetic
1 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed.
field generated by the current flowing in the coil converts the
fluid inside the chamber into a semi-solid, thus increasing the
shear stress and torque required to turn the rotor. The brake
promises high controllability, fast response time (<10 ms),
and a wide torque range (0.3–5.6 N m) with very low power
requirements. Besides, this device also has other benefits: easy
integration, programmable functionality, rugged construction,
and long service life [7, 8].
The objective of this project is to investigate the
application of MR joysticks in virtual reality. To fulfill various
virtual reality applications where large forces are needed [9],
the MR brake that is developed must provide a larger range of
resistant torque which is at least twice that of the MRB-2107-
3. To this end, an optimization algorithm [10] was employed
to design the MR brake. The design considers the difference
between the magnetic saturation values of the MR fluid and
the steel components. In other words, the magnetic induction
values of the MR fluid and the steel should reach their
saturation values at the same electric current. Optimization
analysis was carried out using a powerful electromagnetic
analysis software package, COSMOSEMS [11]. Based on the
obtained optimal geometrical dimensions, the MR brake was
fabricated and its static performance was tested subsequently.

0964-1726/06/061960+07$30.00 © 2006 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK 1960


Figure 1. Side view of the position-feedback MR actuator.
Figure 2. The linear potentiometer.
The MR actuator that was developed behaves in a nonlinear
fashion, which is more difficult to model than traditional
actuators. In this project, a parametric subhysteresis model is
proposed to describe the actuator performance. The last part of
the paper is the demonstration of device applications in virtual
reality. The interface of the demonstration was designed using
LabVIEW [12], developed by the National Instruments (NI)
company.
In summary, this paper develops a systematic design
methodology to optimize MR brake performance; this research
is expected to lead to MR devices in new virtual reality
application areas.
2. Design of a compact MR brake
2.1. Shear mode of the MR brake
The concepts of accuracy, compactness and manufacturability
were taken into consideration in the brake design. The main
components of the MR device, as shown in figure 1, encompass
a compact shear disc MR actuator and a low-resistance linear
potentiometer, which is attached concentrically and can be
rotated synchronously with the shaft of the actuator. The
potentiometer has a 9 mm diameter panel mounting hole and
all pots include aluminium nuts and washers. The type of
potentiometer was chosen to be 3 W, 50 V, 1 k, since the
detecting range of the DAQ board is −10 to +10 V and the
power supply can provides the potentiometer’s +12 V voltage
input. Pictures of the linear potentiometer and installation of
the potentiometer are shown in figure 2.
The working principle of the MR actuator is shown in
figure 3. As can be seen from this figure, the actuator operates
in direct-shear mode, shearing the MR fluid contained in the
space between the two surfaces, the disc surface and the plate,
which move with respect to each other. As the MR fluid
viscosity changes in the presence of a magnetic field excited
around the coil, the resistance torque will change consequently.
Development of an MR-brake-based haptic device
Figure 3. Rotary plate under shear mode: (a) 3D model of the MR
actuator; (b) top view of the FEM simulation; (c) side view of the
FEM simulation.
The torque transmissibility of the MR actuator depends
largely on the dynamic yield stress and the viscosity of MR
fluids [13]. The Bingham plastic model is employed to
describe the MR behavior in the disc-shaped MR actuator,
given by
ωr
τ (r, ω, H ) = τ y (H ) + η (1)
h
where τ (r, ω, H ) is shear stress, which depends on a few
factors, τ y (H ) is the dynamic yield stress, η is the fluid
viscosity, ω is angular velocity of the rotary disc, h is the
fluid gap, and r is the position in the disc surface as shown
in figure 3.
The resistant torque can be derived by integrating the shear
stress along the plate surface area,
 Ro
T =2 (τ y (H )2πr )r dr (2)
Ri
where T is the resistant torque, and Ri and Ro are the inner and
outer radii, respectively. Substituting equation (1) into (2), the
resistant torque is given by
4π   πηω  4 
T = τ y (H ) Ro3 − Ri3 + Ro − Ri4 . (3)
3 h
As can be seen from equation (3), the resistance torque
consists of two terms: one is due to the MR effect; the other
is due to viscous flow. The MR actuator is designed for
virtual reality applications, where the MR brake usually works
at a very small rotary speed, i.e. ω → 0. So the viscous
contribution is very small and can be neglected compared with
the MR effect. So the mechanical design is only based on the
first term.
The MR fluid used in the actuator is MRF-132AD,
supplied by the Lord Corporation (http://www.mrlfuid.com).
The maximum yield stress in the linear working area is
τ y = 30 kPa and the corresponding magnetic field is H =
100 kA m−1 . The shaft diameter is chosen to be 8 mm or Ri =
4 mm. For the intended joystick VR application, the maximum
resistant torque for a human palm is T = 15 N m. So, in this
paper, the resistant torque is chosen to be T = 15 N m as well.
Substituting these parameters into equation (3) and letting ω =
0, the outer radius is determined to be Ro = 50 mm.
2.2. Optimization design with finite-element analysis
At the design stage, except for the inner and outer radii,
many parameters, including fluid gap, disc thickness, casing
1961
B Liu et al

Table 1. Magnetic performance specifications.

Item MRF-132AD MILD steel
μr 5 1000
Hf or Hs 130 kA m−1 700 A m−1
Bf or Bs 0.6 T 1.4 T

thickness, as well as the coil turns, should be considered.

To achieve an efficient MR actuator, the flux density in
the fluid gap should be maintained constant. It is known
that the relative permeability of the MR fluid is far smaller
than that of low-carbon-steel-based rotary plate and casings;
consequently, the smaller fluid gap distance will be better.
Practical gaps typically range from 0.25 to 2 mm for ease (a)
of manufacture and assembly [14]. In this study, the gap
is set to 1.0 mm. The other optimum parameters will be
determined by using the finite-element method with the help
of the COSMOSEMS package [11]. This software is powerful
in simulating three-dimensional (3D) magnetic fields for low-
frequency electromagnetic or electromechanical applications.
For a common magnetic material, the magnetic flux
density shows a nonlinear relationship with the applied
magnetic induction. However, a linear behaviour exists in
the low-magnetic-field condition, i.e. below the magnetic
saturation field of the magnetic materials. That is, the flux
density cannot increase infinitely when the applied magnetic
field is above the saturation point. Therefore, magnetic
saturation of the MILD steel [15] and the MR fluids should
be taken into consideration in the design and analysis of MR
actuators.
Generally, the B – H curve is used to illustrate the effect of
magnetic saturation. The magnetic field, H , tends to magnetize (b)
space and the magnetic flux density, B , is the total magnetic
effect that results. The magnetic B – H curves of the MR
fluid and the MILD steel can be found from [10], where the
operating points for the MILD steel, (Hs , Bs ), and the MR
fluid, (Hf , Bf ), are marked, respectively. The characteristics
for these two materials are summarized in table 1.
Considering the intensity and the required nonmagnetic
characteristic of some of the actuator components, copper
is adopted as the material for the shaft and aluminium for
the coil holder and frame, where the potentiometer is fixed.
All the other components of the actuator are made of MILD
steel, which is rigid enough to support the whole structure
of the actuator and can be magnetized as well. Due to the
symmetrical structure of the actuator, a quarter-disc 3D model
was used to simulate the magnetic flux density distribution, as
shown in figure 4(a). The magnetic flux density distribution in (c)
terms of the top view and side view are shown in figures 4(b) Figure 4. 3D FEM magnetic field simulation.
and (c), respectively. As shown in figure 4(b), the distribution
of the magnetic flux density is approximately constant in the
gap. Furthermore, at the coil current of 3 A, the flux densities
at the MR fluid gap and the MILD steel plate are 0.6 and 1.4 T, the coil current. The dimensions of the MR actuator are listed
respectively. Referring to the appendix, these two flux density in table 2.
values correspond to the operating points of both MR fluids and The flux density distributions in the gap along the plate
MILD steels. In other words, both the MR fluids and the MILD radius direction at various coil currents are shown in figure 5.
steels reach their saturation points at the same coil currents, Obviously, the distribution of the magnetic flux density is
3 A. Therefore, if the coil current is below 3 A, the induced flux uniform except at the end, which is close to the coil. The
density in the MR fluid increases linearly with the increment in discrepancy near the plate edge is probably due to the edge

1962
 Development of an MR-brake-based haptic device

0.9
I = 3 (A)
0.8 I = 2 (A)
I = 1 (A)
Flux density in MRF (T)

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Distance from the shaft (mm)

Figure 5. Magnetic flux density distribution.

Table 2. Dimensions of the MR brake.

Symbol Note Dimensions Figure 6. Photograph of the testing system.
router Outer radius of the disc 50 mm
Da Radius of MR actuator 78 mm
Dc Thickness of the case 10 mm Clockwise Counter-clockwise
800
Dd Thickness of the disc 5 mm
Df Thickness of MRF gap 1 mm 700
Dp Thickness of the plate 7 mm
N Turns of the coil 95 600
Resistant torque (N-cm)

500

effect of the magnetic field and the higher magnetic induction 400
closer to the coil.
300

3. Testing and modelling 200

3.1. Steady-state performance testing
The MR actuator is designed as one of the resistant torque
generators in a haptic MR joystick. When the handle
of the joystick is moved arbitrarily in a two-dimensional
(2D) area, the disc of the actuators would perform a
clockwise/counter-clockwise rotation. Therefore, it is crucial
to characterize the steady-state performance of the MR actuator
under clockwise/counter-clockwise rotary conditions. The
photograph of a testing system is shown in figure 6, where
an IMADA digital torque gauge (model HTG2) is used to
measure resistant torques under various coil currents. The
clockwise/counter-wise testing results, as well as the testing
procedures, are summarized as shown in figure 7. For each
direction, a series of torque measurements were conducted by
varying the coil currents from 0 A to a certain value, such as
1.0 or 2.0 A, and then back to 0 A. The step in the current
increase or decrease is 0.1 A. The results of the clockwise
and counter-clockwise tests in figure 7 are drawn side by
side. The negative signs on the left part represent the opposite
direction of rotation instead of different electric current. As
can be seen from this figure, the plots were symmetrical, which
means that steady-sate performances of the actuator were not
influenced by the direction of the shaft rotation. Therefore,
only counter-clockwise experimental results were used for
modelling approaches.
3.2. Subhysteresis model
As shown in figure 7, the resistance torques do not match
one-to-one with currents. There exists a hysteresis behaviour.
100
0
–3 –2 –2 –1 –1 0 1 1 2 2 3
Electric current (A)
Figure 7. Experimental results under both clockwise and
counter-clockwise tests.
Generally, when a ferromagnetic material is magnetized in
one direction, it will not relax back to zero magnetization
when the imposed magnetizing field is removed. It must be
driven back to zero by a field in the opposite direction [16].
This phenomenon is called hysteresis. To further study the
hysteresis behaviour, a lot more tests were carried out under
varied electric current conditions, including 0–0.5–0 A, 0–
1–0 A, 0–3–0 A, and 0–2–1–2 A. As shown in figure 8,
all the testing hysteresis loops are limited to a largest loop
boundary, which corresponds to the case of 0–3–0 A. For
convenience, the largest boundary hysteresis is defined as
the main hysteresis loop. The main hysteresis loop is
approximately a parallelogram shape, where the upper and
bottom sides are called current shift. Further examinations
of experimental results for other cases have found that all
other hysteresis loops are enveloped in the main hysteresis
loop. Therefore, the MR actuator behaves as subhysteretic
behaviours.
To model such behaviours, a subhysteretic model is
proposed on the basis of the following three assumptions:
(a) all the subhysteresis is limited in the main hysteresis
domain; (b) all the electric current shifts in the subhysteresises
are constant and equal to the electric shift of the main

1963
B Liu et al

900
800
Resistant Torque (N-cm)

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Electric current (A)

Figure 8. Subhysteresis testing of MR actuator.

Figure 10. Program flowchart on three modules.

900

800

700
Resistant Torque (N-cm)

600

500

400

300

Figure 9. Subhysteresis model. 200

100

0
hysteresis; and (c) the top slopes of the subhysteresises are 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
constant in the linear area. The schematic of the subhysteretic Electric current (A)
model is shown in figure 9. In this figure, the red arrows
Figure 11. Comparison between experimental results and model
(pointing up and right) are the paths of the resistant torque predictions.
when electric current increases. The blue arrows (pointing
down and left) indicate the paths of the resistant torque when
electric current decreases. These paths and the superimposed
red and blue paths form the subhysteresis model combining
with the pure red and blue paths. In this model, T0 is the
resistant torque exhibited in the absence of electric current; Is
is the constant difference in electric current; S1 and S2 are the
two constant slopes of the model; It and Ib are the two vertexes
and their values vary when the torque moves along the red
or blue arrows. However, the difference between It and Ib is
constant, i.e. Ib − It = constant.
The resistant torque can be calculated according to the
input electric current based on this subhysteresis model. As Figure 12. MR haptic system block diagram.
shown in figure 9, the model in describing subhysteresis
behaviors contains three modules: the initialization module;
the torque track location module, and the torque determination The second module, the torque track location, is used
module. The program flowcharts for these three modules are to determine the torque track position for the given current
shown in figure 10. I . As shown in figure 9, there are three torque regions:
The first module (the initialization module) is to find the torque increasing region (the purely blue arrow region); the
initial resistance torque of the actuator for any arbitrary given torque decreasing region (the purely red arrow region); and the
initial coil current I0 . The relationships between the initial subhestersis region (a mixture of blue and red arrow regions).
resistance torque versus the initial current are summarized in To distinguish or model three regions, two Boolean variables,
the initialization module, where the value of Is is used as a Dec and Inc, are introduced to represent the following three
critical value to change the slope of resistive torque. cases:

1964

(a)
(b)
Figure 13. (a) Discrete torque vision interface; and (b) continuous torque vision interface.
Case 1. Dec = 1 AND Inc = 0: the torque track in the purely
blue line.
Case 2. Dec = 0 AND Inc = 1: the torque track in the purely
red line.
Case 3. Dec = 0 AND Inc = 0: the torque track in the red/blue
mixture line.
The last module is to determine resistive torques based on
the current gradient and module 2 analyses. For both case 1 and
case 2, resistive torques could easily be determined. For case 3,
resistive torques depends on the current trend. Therefore,
module 3 discussed three different cases in terms of the current
gradient signal, i.e., I˙ = d I/dt > 0, = 0, < 0.
3.3. Comparison between model predictions and experimental
results
As shown in figure 9, the hysteresis behavior of the MR
actuator is characterized by four coefficients, namely Is , S1 ,
Development of an MR-brake-based haptic device
S2 , and T0 , which can be identified by experimental results, as
shown in figure 8. In this paper, the four parameter values are
identified as Is = 0.6, S1 = 387.5, S2 = 233.3 and T0 = 45.
The comparison between the experimental results and model-
prediction values are shown in figure 11. The errors between
them are within 5%.
4. MR-actuator-based haptic system and
demonstration
4.1. The MR haptic system
This system uses a computer to act as the control module
and the display module. The MR position-feedback actuator
performs as the human interface module, through which users
can feel the virtual resistance and generate reactions to the
virtual environment. A working block diagram is shown in
figure 12.
1965
 B Liu et al
The LabVIEW package is used to control the whole
system and to display the vision interface for the user
through the computer screen. This graphical software tool
provides the user with an efficient approach for designing test,
measurement, and control systems. It can also be seamlessly
connected to the equipment such as the PCI6221 DAQ board,
which is used as the interface between the computer and the
MR actuator in this haptic system. This software is composed
of a block diagram panel for graphical programming and a
front panel for the interface display. All the DAQ and control
processes are in the meanwhile loop frames designed in the
block diagram panel, and the frequency of which can be set
by a timer. As can be seen from this figure, the control
signals generated by the computer correspond to the position
of the actuator rotor detected by the linear potentiometer.
Meanwhile, such control signals activate the MR actuators to
generate the resistant forces by amplifying/attenuating current.
Consequently the operator can feel the different resistant forces
when the cursor is moved and controlled by the position signal
generated by the potentiometer, through the image shown on
the computer screen.
4.2. Application examples
Figures 13(a) and (b) show two different interfaces based on
the MR actuator that has been developed. In the square screen
of the first interface, the cursor can be moved vertically when
the MR actuator or the simulation knob is rotated. Similarly,
the pointer in the second interface would turn synchronously
with the rotation of the actuator or the knob and trigger the
actuator to generate corresponding resistant torque. Both of
them have a press switch, a slide switch, a simulation knob
and a display unit. The press is the main switch of the
programming, just like the power switch of a device. The
slide switch is used to change the working module between
the actuator control and the knob control. The significant
difference between these two interfaces is derived from the
display unit. The first one can only demonstrate the discrete
resistant torque, yet the second one is able to be used to
simulate the continuous changing resistant torque without
grade.
5. Conclusions
This paper proposes an effective and compact position-
feedback MR actuator based on the disc-shaped MR model.
Since the MR actuator has a more compact structure and
is able to provide stepless and large-range resistant forces
and torque, it is very suitable for virtual reality applications.
In the design of the prototype, finite-element analysis was
adopted to optimize the behaviour of the actuator in terms of
the magnetic field distribution and materials selection. The
1966
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steady-state performances of the MR actuator was measured
by using a torque meter. The experimental results indicated
that an MR actuator exhibited hysterestic behavior. A
subhysteresis model was proposed to describe the hysteresis
behaviour. Comparison between experimental results and
the model predictions demonstrated that this model could
accurately describe the hysteresis behaviour. Applications of
the MR actuator that has been developed to haptic devices are
discussed.
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