A novel squeeze mode based magnetorheological valve: design, test and evaluation

Abstract Magnetorheological (MR) devices have been investigated intensively nowadays, of which MR valve is an important and hot application with the challenges of acquiring high pressure drop within compact configurations. Hence, a novel squeeze mode based MR valve (SMRV) is proposed in this paper, with highlights of high pressure drop and low power consumption within a compact and transplantable structure. SMRV’s characteristics are studied and its core parts are designed including the initial gaps, magnetic circuit and returning spring. The uniform-saturation magnetic intensity principle is proposed and a co-simulation optimal platform is developed to optimize magnetic intensity of the SMRV dimensions. Then, a prototype is developed and its steady-state performance is evaluated. The test results demonstrate that a pressure drop of 10.8 MPa and a controllable ratio of 5 at 1.0 A applied current are achieved within a transplantable configuration. Meanwhile, SMRV only consumes 1/400 W control power to dissipate 1 W fluid power and its power–volume consumption rate, P C · V / P D , is 3.3 × 10 2 mm 3 , which has a brilliant application prospect in hydraulic or mechatronic systems.