Abstract
This paper presents the different steps involved in designing, building and testing an intelligent damper, which is originally a classic passive damper retrofitted with electro-rheological (ER) technology, that can be used for semi-active car suspensions.
Following an overview of the essential features of ER fluids, this paper examines the different design details required in building an efficient ER car damper. This particular model, filled with a 'Rheobay VP AI3565' ER fluid, was experimentally tested for different speeds and under different electric fields. The experimental results obtained clearly show that, when the high electric field is turned on, the generated dissipative force, and hence the damping characteristics, could be greatly increased.
The dynamics of this first ER damper prototype model were numerically analysed, with an emphasis placed on evaluation of the influence of the electrical field on the resulting dynamic response. The results show that the damping ability could be easily increased by increasing the height of the moving electrode. However, this damping increase, which increases the stiffness of the ER damper, should be handled carefully by both the designer and the user. Indeed, there is always an optimal damping value which provides a compromise between car stability and ride comfort. Moreover, the simulation shows that the controller used to control the damper should not only apply an on/off policy but should also be able to deliver a variable value of the applied high voltage.
Export citation and abstract BibTeX RIS