A Small-sized Variable-damping Mount using Magnetorheological Fluid

This paper deals with an application study of a magnetorheological (MR) fluid to a small-sized variable-damping mount for precision equipment of automobiles. MR fluids are a class of functional fluids with a controllable yield stress due to the applied magnetic field strength. A typical MR fluid is a suspension where pure iron particles of 1-20 mm diameter are dispersed in a liquid such as mineral or silicone oil, at a concentration of 20-40 vol%. A variable-damping mount filled with an MR fluid is combined with a magnetic coil at the bottom, and its performance is investigated experimentally and its damping mechanism is estimated analytically.