Electrorheological Semi-Active Damper: Polyaniline Based ER System

Among various materials suitable for an electrorheological (ER) fluid, polyaniline and its many derivatives based upon modification of oxidation state, dopant and polymerization conditions are of technological interest for their adaptation into ER fluids. This is because they have better thermal stability and smaller density than other potential ER materials. Furthermore, polyaniline is easy to polymerize by oxidation polymerization at relatively low temperature and can be doped from a conducting emeraldine hydrochloride form to an insulating state using simple protonic acids. In this study, we adapted the polyaniline based ER fluids for semi-active cylindrical flow-mode type ER damper. A cylindrical flow-mode type ER damper was chosen in this study because it has similar geometrical configuration to the conventional damper normally used for passenger vehicle. The damping forces measured using a semi-active ER damper with polyaniline based ER fluids were found to be controlled by tuning an applied electric field for different piston velocity.