Hybrid multi-plate magnetorheological clutch featuring two operating modes: Fluid coupling and mechanical friction

Recently, there has been a rising demand for high-performance clutches in mechanical systems owing to the development of industrial technologies. This paper, therefore, proposes a hybrid multi-plate Magnetorheological (MR) clutch that has both fluid coupling and mechanical friction modes. To reduce impact when the plates are in contact with each other, a fluid coupler’s operating mode was used at the beginning of the clutch operation. For this, torque modeling in each mode was induced based on the Bingham model of the MRF. Using the induced torque modeling and ANSYS Maxwell’s magnetic field analysis results, the design procedure for a multi-plate clutch was implemented. Based on the design results, a hybrid multi-plate MR clutch was manufactured. Finally, the performance of the manufactured MR clutch was evaluated using a torque tester. The assessment confirmed that the proposed torque modeling and simulation results mostly matched the test results.