Adjustable Magnetorheological Shock Absorber

The goal of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to demonstrate the feasibility of an adjustable shock absorber for aircraft carrier arresting systems.  The proposed shock absorber will provide a non-mechanical, fail-safe, adjustable solution. In the Phase I project, an extensive modeling and simulation effort will be performed to analyze the scalability of the proposed controllable shock absorber for a conceptual full-scale design.  The working fluid used in the shock absorber will be developed and tested to determine down select its rheological properties.  To further demonstrate the feasibility, a small-scale shock absorber will be fabricated and tested in the Phase I Base period.  In the Phase I Option effort, design improvements on the conceptual design will be performed based on the test results.  In addition, the components for real-time system information feedback will be selected, implemented, and tested using the small-scale shock absorber tested in Phase I Base.  To bridge the gap to the Phase II effort, a 1:15 (force-wise) scale conceptual design will be designed to be built and tested in Phase II.