Numerical and experimental studies on a novel magneto-rheological fluid brake based on fluid–solid coupling

The previous work of the authors indicated that the fluid–solid coupling effect of the magneto-rheological fluid and the brake disc is a necessary focus during braking process. In this study, a novel design of magneto-rheological fluid brake was proposed and studied theoretically and numerically, aiming to solve the prominent problem of heat dissipation, especially in the case of single emergency braking. First, based on the modified Bingham model, a parameter defined as the apparent equivalent viscosity was utilized to represent the relationship of magnetic field, flow field, and temperature field. The braking torque and the formula for calculating the impact factor of fluid–solid coupling employed for characterizing the associations among the thermal field and the stress field were established based on fluid–solid coupling. With a detailed explanation of simulation method, the distribution disciplinarian’s numerical simulation of each field was analyzed using COMSOL software. To validate the accuracy of the established model on the designed magneto-rheological fluid brake, the prototype was also manufactured, and results achieved experimentally which were measured on inertia test system of brake, for braking torque, motion parameters, and surface temperature in braking process, were compared with simulations. Simulation results manifested that the designed magneto-rheological fluid brake’s magnetic circuit structure is feasible based on magnetic induction intensity distribution. Finally, it has been shown that the simulations appear to be basically consistent with the experimental results, and the heat dissipation of the designed magneto-rheological fluid brake is partially improved. These results might contribute to the structure design, optimization, and improvement of magneto-rheological fluid products, extending the previous work on fluid–solid coupling analyses.