Extended two-fluid model for simulating magneto-rheological fluid flows

The current practice of designing magneto-rheological (MR) fluid-based devices is, to a large extent, based on simple phenomenological models like the Bingham model. Though useful for initial force or torque estimation and sizing, these models lack the capability to predict performance degradation due to changes in the particle volume fraction distribution. The present work demonstrates the use of the two-fluid model for predicting the particle volume fraction distribution inside a device in the absence of a field and proposes a novel modeling scheme which can simulate the fluid flow in the presence of a field. This modeling scheme can be used to (a) visualize flow patterns inside a device under various operating conditions, (b) predict the spatial distribution of particles inside a device after multiple operating cycles, (c) assist in estimating the extent of performance degradation due to non-uniform particle distribution and (d) enable testing of various design strategies to mitigate such performance issues using simulations. This is illustrated through numerical examples of a few case studies of typical MR device configurations