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Real-time testing and thermal characterization of a cost-effective magneto-rheological (MR) damper for four-wheeler application

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Abstract

Recent studies show that the Magento-Rheological (MR) dampers can serve as a suitable replacement for passive dampers on ground vehicles. MR dampers are factory fitted in premium luxury vehicles. However, the high price of these MR dampers has restricted their use to premium vehicles only. The study presented in this article attempts to develop a MR damper, in collaboration with a shock absorber manufacturer, that can replace the existing passive dampers on a passenger van while being more affordable than the commercially available MR dampers. The developed MR damper is subjected to rigorous testing on the damper testing machine to evaluate its damping performance, reliability and thermal performance. The simulation results of the test vehicle model revealed a superior MR damper performance compared to the stock passive damper. The MR damper is later installed on the test vehicle to conduct real-time experiments. The real-time experiments showed that the developed MR damper improved the ride comfort of the test vehicle by 16.2% at 10 km/hr and by 17.6% at 20 km/hr compared to passive dampers while running over a speed bump. The road handling also improved by 14.32% at 10 km/hr and by 29.3% at 20 km/hr. At the end of the study, the cost evaluation performed on the developed MR damper revealed that it was more affordable than the commercially available MR dampers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the technical support from Rambal Ltd.'s engineers for designing and fabricating the MR dampers. The authors express their gratitude towards Rambal Ltd. for providing facilities to conduct experiments on the damper testing machine and the test vehicle.

Funding

The study was funded by Impacting Research Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) Project No. IMPRINT/2016/7330 titled “Development of Cost Effective Magnetorheological (MR) Fluid Damper in Two wheelers and Four Wheelers Automobile to Improve Ride Comfort and Stability” funded by Ministry of Education, Govt. India (Formerly, Ministry of Human Resource Development) and Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Govt. of India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, Mangalore, Karnataka, 575025, India

    Mohibb e Hussain Jamadar, Pinjala Devikiran, Rangaraj Madhavrao Desai, Hemantha Kumar & Sharnappa Joladarashi

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  1. Mohibb e Hussain Jamadar
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  2. Pinjala Devikiran
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Correspondence to Hemantha Kumar.

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Jamadar, M.e., Devikiran, P., Desai, R.M. et al. Real-time testing and thermal characterization of a cost-effective magneto-rheological (MR) damper for four-wheeler application. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 95 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04035-x

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