Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are stable suspensions of magnetic particles in a carrying fluid exhibiting controllable rheological behavior in the presence of a magnetic field. Magnetorheological effect represents a reversible increase, due to an external magnetic field, of effective viscosity. MR fluids and devices have the potential to revolutionize the design of hydraulic systems, actuators, valves, active shock and vibration dampers, and other components used in mechanical systems. MR fluids that are currently available suffer from high initial viscosity values and low stability. Hence, there is a compelling need to optimize the MR fluid manufacturing process to produce optimum MR fluid characteristics. The present study proposes to manufacture an optimum composition of a MR fluid in terms of its quality and properties. A high-speed bead mill blending machine is used to manufacture the fluid. Characterization studies are conducted to evaluate the produced fluid.Keywords: magnetorheological fluids, optimum composition, bead mill machine, characterization
INTRODUCTIONMagnetorheological (MR) fluids are stable suspensions of very fine ferromagnetic particles in a non-magnetic carrying medium exhibiting controllable rheological behavior in the presence of an applied magnetic field. In moderate fields, the apparent viscosity of MR fluids increases by more than two orders of magnitude. Electrorheological (ER) fluids, which are composed of suspended dielectric particles in a non-polar medium, exhibit a similar behavior to MR fluids in the presence of an external electric field. Both MR and ER fluids are part of a new class of controllable fluids that has the potential to revolutionize the design of hydraulic and electromechanical systems.The first observations of a controllable fluid behavior in the presence of an electric field were reported by Konig1 and Duff2 However, ER fluids were first invented by Winslow when he filed a patent on a ER clutch-type relay. This clutch closed the relay contacts in response to a vacuum tube photocell connected in series with a supply of 120 volts. This ER controllable fluid behavior was, ever since, referred to as the Winslow effect. On the other hand, MR fluids were invented by Rabinow4 when he devised a magnetic fluid clutch. Since then, there have been hundreds of patents and conducted research on these controllable fluids. However, until the last decade, the development of these fluids was largely ignored. As Winslow himself puts it5, this might have been "since no great necessity for this invention could be imagined" at that time.Nowadays, proposed applications of controllable fluids are both numerous and of enormous potential value. Changes in a variety of material properties, such as magnetic, electrical, thermal, acoustic, and other mechanical and physical properties can be observed in MR or ER fluids upon the application of a magnetic or electric field, respectively. However, most of the applications that have been studied in some detail are based on the controllable rheo...