Influence of interface deformation on transmittable torque of disk-type magnetorheological clutch

The transmission interface deformation for a disk-type magnetorheological clutch appears unavoidably due to machining error, assembling error, and thermal stress. To study the transmittable torque variation due to interface deformation, the common deformation forms of a disk-type magnetorheological clutch are summarized. And then, an experimental test-bed is designed and established. After this, the experiments of transmittable torque due to deformed disks are carried out in the test-bed. The research results indicate that interface deformation has certain influence on the transmittable torque of magnetorheological clutch. For the skew deformation, the transmittable torque will increase approximately linearly with the increment of deformation value. For the warping deformation, when the deformation value is positive, the torque variation rule is the same as skew deformation. While the deformation value is negative, the torque decreases first as the absolute deformation value is smaller and then increases as the absolute deformation value becomes larger.