A New Magnetorheological Fluids Damper for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Abstract

This case study proposes the development of damping technology using intelligent materials as working fluids for the landing gear of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) during the landing process. The intelligent materials to be used are magnetorheological fluids (MRF), a liquid that has variable viscosity to magnetic fields. This intelligent material can improve the performance of the damping device by allowing it to have variable damping features through viscosity changing. The proposed UAV magnetorheological (MR) dampers design utilizes a magnetic valve that has an annular flow channel configuration with a 0.5 mm gap size equipped with an electromagnetic coil with adjustable current input. Both gap size and the current input selection affect the performance of the damping device. This study discusses the performance to reduce shock during the landing process. The performance is evaluated by analyzing the pressure drop and damping force produced by the device with changes in the current input variation. The numerical and simulation results show that the damping characteristics of the device could be adjusted by changing the current input to the electromagnet. The obtained results are then adjusted based on the needs of the UAV in landing purposes. The study proved that the device performance is suitable to absorb shock during the landing process of the UAV.