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Concept
Magnetorheological fluid
Summary
A magnetorheological fluid (MR fluid, or MRF) is a type of smart fluid in a carrier fluid, usually a type of oil. When subjected to a magnetic field, the fluid greatly increases its apparent viscosity, to the point of becoming a viscoelastic solid. Importantly, the yield stress of the fluid when in its active ("on") state can be controlled very accurately by varying the magnetic field intensity. The upshot is that the fluid's ability to transmit force can be controlled with an electromagnet, which gives rise to its many possible control-based applications.
MR fluid is different from a ferrofluid which has smaller particles. MR fluid particles are primarily on the micrometre-scale and are too dense for Brownian motion to keep them suspended (in the lower density carrier fluid). Ferrofluid particles are primarily nanoparticles that are suspended by Brownian motion and generally will not settle under normal conditions. As a result, these two fluids have very different applications.
The magnetic particles, which are typically micrometer or nanometer scale spheres or ellipsoids, are suspended within the carrier oil and distributed randomly in suspension under normal circumstances, as below.
When a magnetic field is applied, however, the microscopic particles (usually in the 0.1–10 μm range) align themselves along the lines of magnetic flux, see below.
To understand and predict the behavior of the MR fluid it is necessary to model the fluid mathematically, a task slightly complicated by the varying material properties (such as yield stress).
As mentioned above, smart fluids are such that they have a low viscosity in the absence of an applied magnetic field, but become quasi-solid with the application of such a field. In the case of MR fluids (and ER), the fluid actually assumes properties comparable to a solid when in the activated ("on") state, up until a point of yield (the shear stress above which shearing occurs).
Official source
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