ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL DAMPER USING MICROPCM FLUID

A PHASE I PROGRAM IS PROPOSED TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY, DESIGN, FABRICATE, AND TEST AN ADVANCED ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL (ER) DAMPER THAT USES A UNIQUE FLUID CONSISTING OF MICROENCAPSULATED PHASE CHANGE MATERIALS (MICROPCMS) WITHIN A DIELECTRIC LIQUID. TWO EARLIER SBIR PROGRAMS FOR NASA AND SDIO HAVE ALREADY DEMONSTRATED THAT SUCH A NOVEL DIELECTRIC ER FLUID (1) WAS NON-AQUEOUS AND CONTAINED NO WATER, (2) POSSESSED SUPERIOR THERMAL CHARACTERISTICS AND WAS VIRTUALLY IMMUNE TO THERMAL RUNAWAY, (3) COULD BE USED OVER A WIDE RANGE OF TEMPERATURES FROM - 5O-C TO +2OO-C, (4) COULD BE USED WITHIN A NOVEL ER DAMPER (DEVELOPED AT TRDC) THAT OPERATES AT A FEW HUNDRED VOLTS RATHER THAN A FEW THOUSAND VOLTS, (5) CAN BE DESIGNED TO PERMIT NEUTRAL BUOYANCY OF THE SUSPENDED PARTICLES AND (6) IS BOTH NON-CORROSIVE AND NON-TOXIC TO PERSONNEL. THE SAME ER FLUID HAS ALSO BE USED WITHIN A NOVEL ER BRAKE AND A CYLINDRICAL ER HEAD THAT DEMONSTRATES SIGNIFICANT CRITICAL DAMPING IN TWO DEMENSIONS. DURING THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM , A PROTOTYPE, MINIATURE ER DAMPER WILL BE DESIGNED, FABRICATED, AND TESTED UTILIZING THE NOVEL MICROPCM ER FLUID AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS WILL BE DETERMINED OVER A WIDE RANGE OF TEMPERATURES.