CFD Simulation of a Smart Magnetorheological Fluid Actuator

Conference: ACTUATOR 2018 - 16th International Conference on New Actuators
06/25/2018 - 06/27/2018 at Bremen, Deutschland

Proceedings: ACTUATOR 2018

Pages: 4Language: englishTyp: PDF

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Authors:
Wang, H. C.; El Wahed, A. K. (University of Dundee, Dundee, United Kingdom)

Abstract:
In this paper, the performance of a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) smart actuator is presented. A key feature of this actuator is the use of magnetorheological (MR) fluids which can exhibit dramatic changes in their rheological properties, such as the yield stress, when subjected to external magnetic fields. The fast and reversible fluid rheological changes would permit the utilisation of the smart actuator into several engineering applications including biomedical and robotic applications. The performance of the MDOF smart actuator was simulated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, which were performed using Ansys software. The device performance was verified using a theoretical model in which the field controllable characteristics of the MR fluid, including the fluid shear stress, were estimated using a Bingham plastic model. The smart device performance, which employed commercial MR fluids, was assessed under various input conditions including the excitation magnetic field strength and the simulated device output was found to compare well with that produced by the theoretical procedure.