<title>Magnetorheological fluid shock absorbers for off-highway high-payload vehicles</title>

Abstract

This paper presents the development and evaluation of a controllable, semi-active magneto-rheological (MR) fluid shock absorber. This is a new design that is tailored for structures and ground vehicles that undergo a wide range of dynamic loading including the capability for passive, load-specific, individual rebound and compression characteristics. The specific application for testing and proof-of-concept is the AM General HMMWV (High Mobility, Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle). The new MR shock absorber emulates stock, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) shock absorber behavior in passive mode (i.e., zero-field) and provides a wide range of controllable damping force above (and below, if needed) zero- field damping levels.