Fail-safe magneto-rheological fluid dampers for off-highway, high-payload vehicles

This paper presents the study of a field-controllable, semi-active magneto-rheological fluid (MRF) shock absorber for high-payload, off-highway vehicles. A MRF damper is developed that is tailored for ground vehicles which undergo a wide range of dynamic loading. The MRF damper also has the capability for different rebound and compression characteristics. The new MRF shock absorber emulates the original equipment manufacture shock absorber behavior in its passive-off mode. Theoretical and experimental studies are performed to examine this MRF damper. The Bingham Plastic theory is employed to model the nonlinear behavior of the MRF. A fluid-mechanics-based theoretical model along with a three-dimensional finite element electromagnetic analysis is utilized to predict the MRF damper performance. The theoretical and experimental results are demonstrated to be in good agreement.