High-flux magnetorheology at elevated temperatures

Abstract

Commercial applications of magnetorheological (MR) fluids often require operation at elevated temperatures as a result of surrounding environmental conditions or intense localized viscous heating. Previous experimental investigations of thermal effects on MR fluids have reported significant reductions in the magnetorheological stress with increasing temperature, exceeding the predictions made by considering the thermal variations in the individual physical properties of the fluid and solid constituents of a typical MR fluid. In the low-flux regime, designers of MR fluid actuators can alleviate this thermal reduction in stress by increasing the applied magnetic field strength. However, this is not possible in the high-flux regime because of magnetic saturation, and it becomes necessary to explore and understand the intrinsic limitations of the fluid at elevated temperature. We describe a new magnetorheological fixture, which was designed as an accessory to a commercial torsional shear rheometer, capable of applying magnetic flux densities up to 1 T and controlling the sample temperature up to 150°C. During the design of the instrument, close attention was given to the uniformity of the magnetic field applied to the sample by using numerical simulations. Incorporation of a custom-built magnetic flux sensor which matches the environmental capabilities of the fixture enables in situ measurement of the local magnetic field at each temperature. The numerical results are also validated by spatially resolved measurements of the local magnetic field. Finally, we explore the ability of a shift factor between fluid magnetization and yield strength to describe the measured variation in the MR fluid response at elevated temperatures.