Effects of Nano-Diamond on Magnetorheological Fluid Properties

Abstract

In order to analyze the effects of nano-diamond on the performance of magnetorheological fluids (MRFs), in this paper, the MRF-1 with a 2% mass fraction in nano-diamond and the MRF-2 without nano-diamond were prepared by the carbonyl iron powder as the dispersed phase and the synthetic mineral oil as the continuous phase. The viscosity and shear stress of MRFs under different magnetic fields were measured by the Anton-Paar rheometer (MCR 302). The MRF settling stability was studied by a standing observation method. A four-ball wear machine was utilized for the wear test at 0.1 T of magnetic field, whereas the magnetic field was provided by an external coil. Also, the three-dimensional white light interferometer was utilized to observe the surface of the ball wear spot, in order to determine the MRF friction properties. The results demonstrated that the nano-diamond had a significant increase in the surface wear. The shear yield strength and settling stability of the MRF could be highly enhanced. The higher the strength of the magnetic field was, the higher the difference in the shear yield strength was. These phenomena demonstrated that the physical properties of the nano-diamond could have a higher impact on MRF, which was of high significance to the preparation of MRFs with excellent performance.