Design, testing and analysis of a novel automotive magnetorheological braking system

This paper presents a new approach to the design, testing and analysis of a magnetorheological brake which uses a multi-path magnetic circuit to satisfy the braking demand of vehicles. In contrast with a general braking system, an automotive brake exhibits an outstanding performance for high torques and long reaction times. We use a proposed power-law model and finite element analysis to obtain the magnetorheological braking performance for a high shear rate and a high-intensity magnetic field. Finite element analysis with different structures is adopted to determine the parameters of the magnetorheological braking and the layout of the magnetic circuits. An integrated prototype is also fabricated and tested. The test results show that the brake torque is relatively high, and the torque can be accurately controlled by the input current. The reaction time is less than 100 ms. We also analyse the experimental results and use these as the basis for fabricating a full-sized prototype. The full-sized prototype generally exhibits a high torque capacity and a fast dynamic response, thereby validating the feasible application of magnetorheological fluids in automotive braking.