Evaluation of a multi-drum magnetorheological brake via finite element analysis considering number of drums and fluid gap selection in optimization

Under the same excitation, the multi-drum magnetorheological brake has a nonuniform distribution of flux density over fluid gaps. Each fluid gap has its own flux density and shear area. Therefore, the number of drums and the fluid gap selection in optimization are two important parameters to be considered in a multi-drum brake design. When a fluid gap is selected in optimization, the brake is optimized to reach the maximum required flux density over this gap. This article focuses on evaluating the influence of these two parameters on the performance of the multi-drum brake. According to the number of drums and the fluid gap selection in optimization, the brakes were marked and optimized via finite element analysis. After all optimal designs were obtained, the performance in terms of torque, volume, mass, and power consumption as well as the torque–volume, torque–mass, and torque–power ratios were calculated and compared. Based on the evaluation results, suggestions on the number of drums and the fluid gap selection in optimization are given.