A contribution to the analysis of magnetorheological brake

Abstract

© 2018 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved. Greater braking torque, in constrained volume and weight, is a primary challenge in magnetorheological brakes' designs. This paper deals with the feasibility of increasing the overall braking torque by multiplying the number of its active surfaces in constrained volume. Improved design of magnetorheological brake is presented. Variation in number of active surfaces and their influence to magnetic flux density intensity was considered through electromagnetic simulations. Simulations on multiple models were carried out using commercial finite element method software - COMSOL Multiphysics, AC/DC module. Materials' magnetic properties, required for simulation process, were previously obtained from manufacturer or were determined by the measurements and were applied to the simulations. Post processing was utilized to calculate the magnetic flux density distribution and intensities across the models' specific cross-sectional areas. The proposed magnetorheological brake design shows great potential for braking torque increase.