Rheological Characteristics of ER Fluids and Their Application to Anti-Vibration Devices with Control Mechanism for Automobiles

ER Fluids (Electro-Rheological Fluid) whose solidity or apparent viscosity varies very rapidly and reversibly to changes of electric field strength have been studied for a long time, chiefly in the UK, and the recent remarkable developments of electronics technology have made many engineers interested in its application to control devices, particularly in the automotive field.

In this paper, the rhelogical characteristics of ER Fluids are first described on the basis of experimental data measured with the coaxial cylindrical rotatory viscometer that can be operated under electric fields and at different temperatures. Then, the semi-active control mounting system incorporating ER Fluid into a hydraulic mount on the basis of the “Pseudo-Sky Hook Model” is discussed both theoretically using the harmonic linearization method and experimentally, with a one degree of freedom vibration model.

Finally, the possible applications of the above mentioned control mounting system to anti-vibration devices for automobiles are briefly mentioned.