Design and Fabrication of 500-kN Large-scale MR Damper

This article presents a thorough investigation of a large-scale MR damper which can produce 500 kN damping force and is prepared for application in the vibration reduction of civil engineering. It is known that it is quite important to prepare a high-performance MR fluid for the large-scale MR damper. The high-performance MR fluid is developed and its essential performance characteristics are tested. Test results show that the sedimentation-proof stability, maximum yield shear stress, and response time of the MR fluid satisfy the requirements for applications of the MR damper in the vibration reduction of engineering structures. The designing process is introduced and several key techniques for the MR damper design, including built-in disk-spring accumulator, magnetic-flux leakage prevented design, leakage prevention of magnetorheological fluid, and stability enhancement of the controller for large-scale MR damper are proposed. Finally, the performance experiments of the MR damper are carried out.