Abstract
This paper is concerned with an electromagnetic design methodology for a magneto-rheological (MR) valve. In order to improve the performance of the MR valve, the magnetic circuit consisting of the MR fluid, the yoke for forming the magnetic flux path, and the electromagnetic coil should be effectively designed. For this purpose, two effective approaches are proposed: one is to shorten the magnetic flux path by removing the unnecessary bulk of the yoke to improve the static characteristic of the MR valve, and the other is to increase the magnetic reluctance of the magnetic circuit by minimizing the cross-sectional area of the yoke through which the magnetic flux passes to improve the dynamic and hysteretic characteristics. After two MR valves, one is a conventional type valve and the other is the proposed one, are designed and fabricated, their performances are evaluated through magnetic field analysis and a series of basic experiments.
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