Characteristic of Magnetorheological Fluid for Tracked Vehicle Suspension

Orthogonal tests of the magnetorheological fluid (MRF) preparations are presented in this paper. MRFs with carbonyl iron, shock absorbing fluid used in tracked vehicle, and stearic acid, kaolin and Fe(2)O(3), were prepared. The characteristics of MRFs were investigated, such as settling stability, off-state viscosity, shear stress, influence by temperature, and force-displacement of MRF damper. It can be concluded that good settling stability and low off-state viscosity were obtained when 2% stearic acid, 1% kaolin and 2% Fe(2)O(3) were added into MRF. And the shear stress was 84.2 kPa and the dynamic shear yield stress was 47.8 kPa under the current of 1 A, the shear rate of 40 s(-1). In the force-displacement experiments, when the current was 0.75 A, the peak rebound force was 3.7 times larger than the current was zero, while the peak compress force was 3.4 times, and the energy absorption was 3.5 times.