Development and experiments of actuator using MR fluid

Magnetorheological (MR) fluids are materials that respond to an applied magnetic field with a change in their rheological behavior. Though they are functionally similar to electrorheological (ER) fluids, MR fluids exhibit much higher yield strengths for applied magnetic fields than ER fluid for applied electric fields. The devices using MR fluids have an ability to provide high-torque, low-inertia, safe device and simple interface. In this study, the authors develop an actuator using MR fluid that consists of an input part, an output part and an MR-fluid clutch between them. The output part can be simply a cylinder or a disk, and thereby made extremely lightweight. In order to investigate the characteristics of the developed MR actuator, the experiments are examined.