Design and Modeling of a Magnetorheological Valve with Both Annular and Radial Flow Paths

ABSTRACT: In this article, an MR valve possessing simultaneously annular fluid flow resistance channels and radial fluid flow resistance channels is designed, and its structure and working principle are described. In addition, a mathematical model for the MR valve with both annular and radial flow paths is developed and the simulation is carried out to evaluate the newly developed MR valve. The simulation results based on the proposed model indicate that the efficiency of the MR valve with circular disk-type fluid resistance channels is superior to that with annular fluid resistance channels under the same magnetic flux density and outer radius of the valve. Furthermore, the results also show that the efficiency of the MR valve can be improved significantly with two types of fluid flow resistance gaps, viz. annular fluid flow resistance gaps and circular disk-type fluid flow resistance gaps simultaneously. Key Words: magnetorheological valve, annular channel, circular disk-type channel, magnetorheological fluid flow, fluid flow resistance gap