Experimental Investigation of Squeezed MRF Film

Stopper and Its Effect on Vibrating Bimorph for

Frequency Tuning of an Energy Generator
Sylvester Sedem Djokoto Martin Agelin-Chaab Vytautas Jrnas
Dept. of Automotive, Mechanical and Dept. of Automotive, Mechanical and Institute of Mechatronics,
Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Kaunas University of Technology,
Engineering and Applied Science Engineering and Applied Science Studentu 56, 51424
University of Ontario Institute of University of Ontario Institute of Kaunas, Lithuania
Technology 2000 Simcoe Street, North, Technology 2000 Simcoe Street, North, [email protected]
Oshawa, Canada ON L1H 7K4 Oshawa, Canada ON L1H 7K4
[email protected] [email protected]

Egidijus Dragašius
Department of Production Engineering,
Kaunas University of Technology,
Studentu 56, 51424,
Kaunas, Lithuania
[email protected]

Abstract—. This paper proposed a frequency tuning frequency which is difficult to achieve. An example is the
concept using magnetorheological fluids (MRF) in squeeze mode conversion of human movement or variable vibration over
as a stopper. The MRF is a smart fluid that changes from a time [4]. When there is a mismatch in the frequency of the
liquid state into a semi-solid state within milliseconds when a resonant frequency harvester compared to the ambient
magnetic field is applied. The change from liquid state to semi- vibration source, a fluctuating or low electric power is
solid state demonstrated in this study is achieved by varying the achieved [5,6]. For MEMS energy harvesting devices with a
distance between two magnets and hence the magnetic field. The miniature cantilever, there is an additional problem of static
experimental results show that the frequency of the vibrational deflection and vibration amplitude due to the low stiffness
system was increased by 16% when the MRF was activated at needed for the resonance at a low frequency in the structures
0.1T. The damping was also increased by 48.8% when a [7]. There have been numerous investigations into the
magnetic field of 0.3T was added to MRF. The change in
techniques and methods of improving the efficiency of the
damping also affected the stiffness of the piezoelectric cantilever
beam and hence the power generated from the piezoelectric
piezoelectric energy harvester. One of the known methods is
bimorph cantilever. The generated power from the cantilever to make the cantilever of a piezoelectric harvester deflect
without MRF damping was calculated to be 1.1 ࣆࢃ at a initially and then leave it to oscillate freely. The initial
resistance of 330 ࢑ષ but increased to 9 ࣆࢃ when the damping deflection can be implemented by mechanical contact or by
of 0.1T was applied non-contact magnetic interaction [8]. In current research
conducted to maximize power, an impact-coupled frequency
up-converting tandem was set up with different Low-
Frequency Resonator to Piezoelectric Vibration Energy
Keywords— magnetorheological fluid, Piezoelectric energy Harvester on different contact points along the length of a
generator, frequency tuning, squeeze-mode effect piezoelectric cantilever beam. The results show that there was
an increase in the power output by one order of magnitude for
I. INTRODUCTION a double natural frequency ratio and up to 150% difference in
The growing research and improvements in the properties the power output from different impact point locations on the
of smart materials have encouraged a wide application. The beam [9].
most widely known smart materials are; piezoelectric
For the impact vibration tuning devices there have been a
materials, electrorheological fluids (ERF),
lot of materials suggested as the impact materials. A ball
magnetorheological fluids (MRF) and magnetorheological
moving freely between two dielectric membranes located at a
elastomer (MRE), Ferrofluid and electron conjugate liquid
certain distance from each other was proposed. The proposed
[1]. In recent years, there has been a great focus on harnessing
system generated electricity when the ball moving due to
energy from ambient vibrational sources. Energy harvesting is
ambient vibrations impacts on one of the membranes. The
done using electromechanical converters consisting of a
research results were useful for selecting the system
special material which can convert ambient energy such as
parameters in achieving an optimal output performance. A
mechanical vibration, light, thermal, wind, etc. into electrical
potential application of the proposed system for energy
energy for powering mechatronic, micro electro mechanical
harvesting from car engine vibrations [10]. A frequency
systems (MEMS) and small electronic devices [2,3].
increased piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting device
Piezoelectric energy harvesters are usually a resonant-type where the low-frequency periodic impact of a driving beam
device. The resonant frequency devices simulate the with a horizontally extended rectangular tip makes two
frequency of the ambient vibration sources to achieve a piezoelectric generating beams to vibrate at the same time was
maximum power generation. The resonant energy harvesting proposed by [11]. The higher resonant frequencies produce a
structures are however designed to equal the. excitation higher power output. The output power due to the impact on

978-1-7281-0137-8/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE

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both generating beams was doubled compared to the overall
output of the device. An energy harvesting floor tile using
unimorph PZT piezoelectric cantilevers to convert kinetic
energy from human footsteps into usable electricity was
designed and investigated by [8]. The generated electrical
power and energy were investigated through various resistive
loads. The average power and total output energy produced by Fig. 2 Direction of activated magnetic field magnetic field
one-foot step on the tile were found to be 1.24 mW and 3.49
mJ, respectively at an optimal load resistance of 74.44 k. This paper presents an experimental investigation into the
The energy conversion efficiency reached 17.12 % impact of a piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam on MRF
demonstrating the potential of harvesting energy from human film stopper under different magnetic field configurations.
motion. This paper further presents a novel form of a frequency tuning
for power generation by using the change in rheological
Smart fluids, MRF and ERF on the other have gained wide properties of MRF as an impacting object. To the best
attention among researchers and engineers. Among the well- knowledge of the authors, the technique presented in this
known research into the use of these fluids are damping agents paper has not been implemented in any form energy
in mitigating structural vibration. A more recent way of generation system. The application of a magnetic field
damping and frequency tuning is a sandwiched ERF and MRF changes the MRF from a liquid state to a semi-solid state
cantilever beams in free oscillation. It was theoretically and based on the field intensity. The change of MRF to semi-solid
experimentally investigated that the changed in the electric as an impact material influences the frequency tuning of the
and magnetic fields applied to the fluids influences the tuning piezoelectric bimorph cantilever for energy generation. The
of the structure [12-14]. experimental results showed a 16% increase in natural
Magnetorheological fluids (MRF) is a type of smart fluid frequency when the bimorph cantilever beam impacts the
that is made up of micrometer-sized magnetic or activated MRF. The results also show that the damping factor
ferromagnetic particles in a carrier fluid, usually a type of oil. at a different magnetic field intensity of the cantilever beam.
The micron-scale particles of MRF are too heavy for a The damping was evaluated at 0.013719 without the applied
Brownian motion to keep them suspended. For that reason, the field and reduced to 0.009219 at 0.1T magnetic filed
in-built density difference between the particle and its carrier application. This changed in the damping affects stiffness,
fluid, particles will, therefore, settle over time. MRFs can obtained by adjusting the applied magnetic field. The paper
change from linear viscous fluid to semi-solids when a further presented a study into the tenable output power
magnetic field is applied. The change from one state to another generated because of the change in stiffness in the bimorph
takes a short time (milliseconds) as illustrated in Figs 1 and 2 cantilever beam. The extrapolated experimental data
[15-17]. calculated the generated power from cantilever without
damping to be 1.1ߤܹ at a resistance of 330 ݇ȳ., increased to
MRFs have been applied to devices where high dynamic 9 ߤܹ when there is damping at 0.1T
features are required. The application of MRF in beam
structures [18,19], plates [20], shells, etc. has helped to change This paper is organized as follows. Section I presents the
the stiffness and damping properties of these structures under fabrication of the proposed squeezed MRF film piezoelectric
the influence of a magnetic field. A significant amount of the bimorph cantilever frequency tuner. Section II presents the
parameters of such systems could be controlled using MRF. experimental setup, results, and discussions. Finally, section
Among the methods of controlling the magnetic field, is to III gives a conclusion to the paper.
control the supply of current to the electromagnet by inducing
external magnetic field strength. II. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
The devices that use MRF are classified, based on the A. Device configuration
shape of the particles, into two types: i) sphere iron particles The vibration tuning system in this study consists of
and ii) plate iron particles [21,22]. The operation of MRF are vibrating piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam, two
classified into three types: i) shear mode, ii) squeeze mode and permanent magnets mounted on the opposite sides of the
iii) flow mode. beam. The MRF is attached to one of the magnets. The
permanent magnets are arranged to face each other with
opposite poles and a gap d apart in the horizontal x-plane as
shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 1 Non-activated magnetic field

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of the proposed MRF energy generator

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 A cantilever piezoelectric bimorph cantilever was chosen Fig. 5 shows the experimental setup of the clamped
for this application. This kind of cantilever is a typical piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam. The piezoelectric
piezoelectric device which has many vibration beam beam is excited between two permanent magnets with a layer
applications such as energy harvesting, resonance sensors etc. of MRF attached to one magnet facing the beam. The layer of
The bimorph cantilever is made of a shim layer sandwiched 0.05mm thick of MRF type 140-CG manufactured by Lord
between two piezoceramic layers. The piezoelectric bimorph Corporation [24].
cantilever beam used is also known as “Piezo Bending
Actuator 427.0085.11Z from Johnson Matthey Piezo Products The main equipment used in the experiment are the
GmbH, [23]. The bimorph cantilever consists of two active bimorph cantilever which consists of two active layers of
layers of piezoelectric ceramic of the material M1100 piezoelectric ceramic of the material M1100 bounded together
bounded together with an intermediate supporting layer. Fig. with intermediate supporting layer. Fig. 4 shows a typical
4 shows a typical bimorph. Table 1 contains a comprehensive bimorph. A permanent magnets Nd-Fe-B (N42) [34], an
list of the technical specifications of the energy generating amplifier, a signal generator, a laser vibrometer, and an
system in the experimental setup (Fig. 7). oscilloscope. A magnetic field Gauss Meter (HHG191), was
used to identify the magnetic poles (north and south) and
measure the magnetic flux generated by the magnets.
The signal generator (Signal Generator Agilent 33220A)
was used to excite the bimorph cantilever beam with a set
swept sine actuation frequency ranging from 0 Hz to 300 Hz
The vibration response of the piezoelectric bimorph cantilever
was measured by a non-contact Laser Doppler Vibrometer
(Polytec Laser Doppler Vibrometer system OFV512/5000).
This is a single-point Laser Doppler Vibrometer with a He-Ne
Fig. 4 Bimorph (Piezo Bending Actuators 427.0085.11Z [23]
(Helium-Neon). Signals from laser vibrometer were collected
by the oscilloscope (PiscoScope-3424) and sent to signal
TABLE 1 PROPERTIES AND DIMENSIONS OF THE ENERGY analyzer. The signals were processed, and Fourier
GENERATING SYSTEM transformed to get the natural frequencies of the beam. The
vibration data response was obtained in the frequency domain,
Symbol Description Value Units where the results of the natural frequencies and amplitudes of
l Total length of 49.95 ± 0.05 mm vibration were presented .
beam
݈௕ Free (vibrating) 29.5 mm
length
w Width of the 7.2 ± 0.05 mm
beam
t Total beam 0.78 ± 0.03 mm
thickness
‫ݐ‬௣ Thickness of 0.25 ± 0.05 mm
piezoelectric
layer
‫ݐ‬௦௛ Shim layer 0.28 ± 0.05 mm
thickness
ߩ௣ Piezoelectric 8000 Kg/m3
layer density
ߩ௦௛ Shim layer 1800 Kg/m3
density
ߝଷଷ Permittivity 30975e-12 nF/m
‫ܧ‬௦௛ Shim layer 120e9 N/m2
modulus of
elasticity
‫ܧ‬௣ Piezoelectric 6.3e10 N/m2
layer modulus of
elasticity
݁ଷଵ piezoelectric 250
constant
߮ Particle volume 0.4
fraction of MRF
ߤ଴ Permeability in 1.25e-6 H/m Fig. 5 Experimental setups of the resonant based energy generator with
free space squeeze mode type MRF stopper
B Magnetic flux 0.35 T
density of MRF
߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ Yield strength at 38 kPa
B. System modeling
100 kA/m The magnetic field in this system was determined by the
߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ Yield strength at 57 kPa distance between the magnets. This change provided a change
200 kA/m
in the rheological properties of the MRF. In addition to the
rm Radius of 3.25 mm
magnet MRF film serving as a damper or stopper, it also prevents the
tm Thickness of 2 mm piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam layer from being
magnet damaged by displacement during excitations. The MRF
ߟ Viscosity of the 0.28 ± 0.070 Pa·s operation and the small air gap ݀ଵ shown in Fig. 6 is formed
MRF between the vibrating cantilever beam and the permanent

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magnets (‫ܯ‬ଵ and ‫ܯ‬ଶ ). The vibration of the cantilever beam on cantilever beam is transformed to the potential energy of the
the x-axis produces the horizontal displacement which layer of MRF without an additional loss [26].
squeezes the MRF. The magnetic field B produced by the
permanent magnets and the magnetic field lines circulate in
magnets 1 and 2 to produce the uniform magnetic field in the
gap d.

Fig. 7 Lumped parameter model of the proposed MRF energy generating

system

Fig. 6 Magnetic field direction and the distance between magnets Fig. 7 presents a lumped parameter model of a single
degree of freedom (SDOF) spring-mass-damper model to
To design a device using MRF, it requires the knowledge illustrate the linear modeling of the squeezed film MRF
and the characterization of the properties of the materials stopper. The equations of motion for the system is given ;
involved. The first point to consider is the yield stress of the ݉௘௙௙ ‫ݖ‬ሷ ൅ ܿ௧௢௧௔௟ ‫ݖ‬ሶ ൅ ݇௘௙௙ ‫ ݖ‬ൌ ‫ܨ‬ (3)
fluid as a function of the magnetic field. In this work, the MRF
140-CG [24] was used. The yield stress ߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ of this type of where, ݉௘௙௙ is the cantilever beam giving as;
fluid is given by an experimentally-derived equation which
depends on the magnetic field intensity and the particle ݉௘௙௙ ൌ ൫ʹߩ௣ ‫ݐ‬௣ ൅ ߩ௦௛ ‫ݐ‬௦௛ ൯ ൈ ݈ ൈ ‫ݓ‬ (4)
volume fraction ߮ as [25]. ܿ௧௢௧௔௟ , is the total damping coefficient which is the sum of the
߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ ൌ ‫ ܥ‬ൈ ʹ͹ͳ͹ͲͲ ൈ ߮ଵǤହଶଷଽ ൈ ‫݄݊ܽݐ‬ሺ͸Ǥ͵͵ ൈ ͳͲି଺ ‫ܪ‬ሻ damping of the cantilever beam, ܿ௕௘௔௠ and damping caused
(1) by MRF ܿெோி , ݇௘௙௙ is the effective stiffness which is the sum
of the beam stiffness ݇௕௘௔௠ and stiffness caused by the MRF
Where ‫ ܥ‬is a coefficient dependent on the carrier fluid of the ݇ெோி and ‫ ܨ‬is the external force applied to the cantilever
MRF and ‫ ܪ‬is the magnetic field intensity. beam. ‫ ݖ‬is the tip displacement of the cantilever beam at a
The change in the viscosity of the MRF is used to generate distance ݀ଵ between the MRF and cantilever beam.
a viscous force between the two surfaces of both magnets, in
relative motion to the vibrating cantilever beam. The equation The MRF stiffness ݇ெோி and squeeze damping
ܿ௦௤௨௘௘௭௘ǡெோி depends therefore on the force ‫ܨ‬ெோி and the
which relates the magnetic flux density ‫ ܤ‬to the magnetic field
permanent magnets 1 and 2. The force generated between the
intensity ‫[ ܪ‬25] is:
permanent magnets and with the fluid ‫ܨ‬ெோி fixed at its free
end is given as [27]:
‫ ܤ‬ൌ ͳǤͻͳ ൈ ߮ଵǤଵଷଷ ሾͳ െ ሺ݁ ିଵ଴Ǥଽ଻ఓబு ሻሿ ൅ ߤ଴ ‫ܪ‬ (2) మ ఛ ሺுሻ
ସ గ௥೘ ಳ
‫ܨ‬ெோி ൌ ሺௗభ ା௭ሻ
‫݊݃݅ݏ‬ሺ‫ݖ‬ሶ ሻ (5)
ଷ
C. The Squeezed Impact Phenomenon Where ߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ is the yield stress of the MRF giving in
The rheological properties of the MRF due to the intensity Equation (1), ‫ݎ‬௠ is the radius of the magnet, ݀ଵ is the initial
of the magnetic field determines the effective stiffness of the gap between the MRF and cantilever beam and ‫ݖ‬,‫ݖ‬ሶ are the
beam at the point of impact. The stiffness of the cantilever displacement of cantilever beam respectively.
beam, ݇௕௘௔௠ is constant during displacement and the
vibration behaviour is linear. At the point of impact with the The force due to the MRF is just an approximation and
MRF, the stiffness of the vibrating cantilever beam is does not consider the hysteresis effect between the magnets
converted from ݇௕௘௔௠ to ݇ெோி , where ݇ெோி ‫݇ ب‬௕௘௔௠ . while the MRF is either being compressed or separated from
From this stiffness effect, the vibration of the cantilever is the oscillation of the cantilever beam. The magnitude of the
transformed from linear oscillations to nonlinear impact magnetic stiffness ݇ெோி is computed from ‫ܨ‬ெோி as shown
oscillations, as a result of the displacement constraints given [27].
by the MRF stopper. The stiffness then becomes ఋ௞ಾೃಷ డ௞ಾೃಷ
݇ெோி ሺ݇ெோி ൐ ݇௕௘௔௠ ሻ, making the effective stiffness of the ݇ெோி ሺ݀ଵ ሻ ൌ ቚ ቚൌቚ ቚ (6)
ఋௗభ డௗభ
cantilever beam (after impact) change from ݇௕௘௔௠ to
ሺ݇ெோி ൅ ݇௕௘௔௠ ሻ and this shows that there is an adhesive or
య ఛ ሺுሻ
ସ గ௥೘
tensile force between the vibrating cantilever and MRF for ݇ெோி ൌ ಳ
(7)
part of the vibrating cycle until the magnetic particles ଷ ሺௗభ ା௭ሻమ
dispersed. This behaviour gives an increase in the effective Since the initial gap between the two magnets are xed at d at
stiffness, which in effect changes the frequency response of a magnetic field, the variation in ݇ெோி is mainly due to the
the cantilever beam and diverges from its normal behaviour two interrelated parameters, which are eld dependent yield
allowing resonance to extend over a wider interval, in the stress ߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ and frequency dependent modal displacement ‫ݖ‬
vicinity of its resonant frequency. The kinetic energy of the of the cantilever beam in the x plane.

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 The vibrating piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam as ఠೞ೤ೞ మ ௧ೞ೓ మ ௪మ ௘యభ మ ௭ మ
ܲ‫ ݎ݁ݓ݋‬ൌ ഘೞ೤ೞ ೃ మ
ൈܴ (14)
shown in Fig. 7 was modeled as a Single Degree of Freedom ସ൬ଵା௪௟್ ఌయయ ൈ ൰
೟೛
(SDOF) lumped-parameters model. This model is only
accurate for the first mode of vibration. Thus, the equivalent where ߱௦௬௦ is the resonant frequency of the MRF-based
stiffness of the cantilever beam can be expressed as [28]: system, ‫ݐ‬௦௛ is the shim layer thickness, ‫ ݓ‬is the width of the
ଷா೛ ூ beam, ‫ ݖ‬is the max deflection and ‫ݐ‬௣ is the thickness of the
݇௕௘௔௠ ൌ య (8)
௟್ piezoelectric layer. ݁ଷଵ is piezoelectric constant. The
matching resistance ܴ of the piezoelectric material and is
given as:
Where ‫ ܫ‬is the moment of inertia. Therefore, the moment ௧೛
of inertia of the reference layer can be expressed in equation 9 ܴൌ (15)
௪௟್ ఌయయ ఠೞ೤ೞ
as [29] and ݈௕ is the free (vibrating) length of the beam
௪ ாೞ೓ ଷ ௪௧೛ ଶ
‫ܫ‬ൌ ൬ ‫ݐ‬௦௛ ൅ ʹ‫ݐ‬௣ଷ ൰ ൅ ൫‫ݐ‬௦௛ ൅ ‫ݐ‬௣ ൯ (9)
ଵଶ ா೛ ଶ III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

A. Displacement and resonant frequency

Where w is the beam width, ‫ܧ‬௦௛ is the shim layer modulus The experiment conducted on piezoelectric bimorph
of elasticity, ‫ܧ‬௣ is Young’s modulus of piezoelectric material, cantilever was classified as follows; free vibration of
‫ݐ‬௦௛ is the shim layer thickness and ‫ݐ‬௣ is the thickness of the cantilever (i) without fluid corresponding to 0T, (ii) when the
ceramics layer of the piezoelectric beam. magnets are 0.2mm apart making distance corresponding to
0.1T, (iii) when the magnets are 1mm apart making distance
The resonant frequency of the generating system is given corresponding to 0.03T, (iv) when the magnets are 2mm apart
as: making distance corresponding to 0.02T and (v) when the
௞೐೑೑ magnets are 3mm apart making distance corresponding to
߱௦௬௦ ൌ ට (10) 0.001T. The readings of the natural frequency of the
௠೐೑೑
piezoelectric bimorph cantilever beam corresponded to 266
where ݇௘௙௙ ൌ ݇௕௘௔௠ ൅ ݇ெோி . The damping ratio of the Hz, 242 Hz, 245 Hz, and 232 Hz.
system is defined as the mechanical energy losses due to the The graph in Fig.8 presents the frequency responses of the
fluid squeeze force, [30]. The total mechanical damping gave proposed MRF energy generator achieved at five different
as, ܿ௧௢௧௔௟ ൌ ܿ௦௤௨௘௘௭௘ǡெோி ൅ ܿ௕௘௔௠ . conditions. The results from the figure show that both the
The damping effect owing to the squeeze force results due natural frequency and the peak value are significantly changed
to the flow of viscous fluid through the small gaps which can by the intensity of the magnetic field. It was observed that the
be calculated as [24]: natural frequency without MRF was 230Hz and was increased
to 266 Hz by application of a magnetic field of 0.1T to the
ర
ଷ గఎ௥೘
ܿ௦௤௨௘௘௭௘ǡெோி ൌ (11) MRF, a 16% increment
ଶ ሺௗభ ା௭ሻయ

Where ߟ is the viscosity of the MRF. The damping

coefficient of the piezoelectric beam ܿ௕௘௔௠ on the other hand,
can be expressed as [31];
ܿ௕௘௔௠ ൌ ʹ ൈ ߞ ൈ ݉௘௙௙ ൈ ߱௕௘௔௠ (12)
where ߞ is the damping ratio the free vibrating beam giving as
ߜ Τʹߨ . ߜ is the log decrement corresponding to ߜ ൌ
ሺͳΤ݊ሻሺ݈݊ ‫ݖ‬ଵ Τ‫ݖ‬௡ାଵ ሻ.
The squeeze mode yield strength of the MRF, equation (1) is
derived from equations (7), (8), and (10):
ଷ ሺௗభ ା௭ሻమ
߬஻ ሺ‫ܪ‬ሻ ൌ య ൫߱௦௬௦ ଶ ݉௘௙௙ െ ݇௕௘௔௠ ൯ (13)
ସ గ௥೘

D. Modeling of the output power

Fig. 8 Frequency response of the piezoelectric bimorph cantilever with
From the maximum resonant frequency of the vibrating MRF stopper
cantilever shown in Equation (10), the piezoelectric material,
thus conserve most of the power generated. To generate The vibration parameters presented in the section I was
electrical power, a resistive load is required. The electrical determined in the experimental work and the results are
load is modeled as a single resistor. It is described by [32] that summarized in Table 2. The table presents the results of the
the output power reaches its maximum value when the damping factor of the MRF impact on piezoelectric bimorph.
resistance is described by Equation (15). The averaged power The damping of the vibrating bimorph beam without the field
generated by a bimorph piezoelectric cantilever is given by: is evaluated as 0.013719 and it is reduced to 0.009219 by
applying the magnetic field of 0.3T, That is a 48.8%
increment.

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 B. Power output (power versus frequency)
The power generated from the cantilever beam was
determined using the theoretical model described in section I
and data from the experimental from section II. From the
effective damping model, Equation (11) and (13) was
developed, the stiffness of the cantilever beam as it impacts
on the MRF due to the application of the magnetic field. The
magnetic field was determined by changing the distances
between the two magnets. The results show that the output
power decreases with the increase in resonant frequency.
From Fig.9, it is shown that a maximum 9 μW power was
obtained at 266 Hz resonant frequency at 0.1T. This showed
an increment from 1.1μW of the free vibrating bimorph
cantilever beam. The results of the calculated power and
matching resistance of the magnetic fields are presented in
Table 2. Fig. 9 Frequency response versus power generator graph

TABLE 2 VIBRATION, MAGNETIC FIELD INTENSITY OF MRF AND ESTIMATED POWER RESULTS OF THE SQUEEZE MRF FILM STOPPER

Distance Magnetic Natural Peak Damping Damping Calculated. Calculated.

Between field Frequency Amplitude Frequency Factor Power Resistance
Magnets Strength (T) (࣓࢔ ), Hz (ࣆ࢓) (࣓ࢊ ), Hz ሺࣀሻ (ࣆࢃ) ሺ࢑ષሻ
(mm)
- Without 230 200 229 0.0677 1.1004 330
MRF
0.2 0.1T 266 50 265 0.0019 9.1565 286
1 0.03T 242 110 240 0.0451 3.6837 314
2 0.02T 245 140 244 0.0395 6.1140 310
3 0.001T 232 180 231 0.0639 8.0694 328

1.1ߤܹ at a resistance of 330 ݇ȳ. but increased to 9 ߤܹ

IV. CONCLUSIONS
when the damping of 0.1T was applied.
This paper proposed a concept using magnetorheological
fluids (MRF) in squeeze mode as a stopper. MRF is a smart ACKNOWLEDGMENT
fluid that changes from a liquid state into a semi-solid state The financial support of the Norwegian State Educational
within milliseconds when a magnetic field is applied. The Grant and Loan Fund and Faculty of Engineering is gratefully
change from liquid state to semi-solid state demonstrated in acknowledged
this study was achieved by varying the distance between two
magnets and hence the magnetic field. The experimental REFERENCES
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