Design and analysis of variable stiffness joint for railway vehicles using magneto-rheological elastomer

The magnetorheological material changes its characteristics according to the external magnetic field. Magnetorheological elastomer existing in the solid phase has micrometer-sized magnetically responsive particles inside. When a magnetic field is applied by a permanent magnet or electromagnet nearby, it can exhibit stiffness that changes according to the strength of the magnetic field. Many previous studies focused on verifying the variability of the material's characteristics. However, this study newly proposed a variable stiffness joint for the suspension system of railway vehicles using a magnetorheological elastomer, as a basic study of magnetorheological elastomer for a mechanical component. Based on the characteristics test of the magnetorheological elastomer, the variable joint was designed to have the same structure as the conventional guide arm joint of a railway vehicle. Particularly, to overcome the low magnetic field strength, which may be a problem in the previous research, and to implement uniform magnetic field distribution, the electromagnet was designed to make direct contact with the magnetorheological elastomer. A mathematical model was established and a finite element method verified the model, resulting in an average magnetic flux density of 300 mT, which means 30% stiffness change at 15% shear strain.