A Comparison between Electrorheological and Magnetorheological Fluids Subjected to Impulsive Loads

This paper is concerned with an experimental comparison of the dynamic performance of an Electrorheological and a Magnetorheological fluid when subjected to impulsively applied loads. The ER device was built as a squeeze cell incorporating an ER fluid sandwiched between two electrodes which, during impact, move towards each other, whilst the MR device was a commercially available vibration absorber. Each device was mounted in an experimental rig which was capable of determining the instantaneous responses of the fluids. The transient characteristics of the devices were assessed for various mechanical force levels and, for the ER device, under DC excitation of the fluid in conjunction with a digital controller to provide a constant applied electrical field.