Rotary vane magnetorheological (MR) energy absorber

A rotary vane magnetorheological energy absorber (MREA) comprising:

• a hollow body defining an internal volume containing magnetorheological (MR) fluid;
• a damping mechanism comprising,
• a shaft traversing said hollow body and rotatable within said internal volume about an axis,
• a plurality of concentric rotary vanes each having cylindrical sidewalls and each coaxially coupled to said shaft for rotation about said axis, and
• at least one fixed vane having cylindrical sidewalls positioned coaxially with said axis and received between said cylindrical sidewalls of said plurality of concentric rotary vanes;
• and
• a fixed stator comprising a cylindrical body positioned coaxially with said axis and at least one solenoid coil wound about said cylindrical stator body for generating a variable magnetic field that changes the properties of the MR fluid.

A magnetorheological (MR) energy absorber, comprising:

• a body defining an internal volume;
• MR fluid contained within said internal volume;
• a rotatable shaft traversing the internal volume of said body;
• a rotary vane mounted interiorly of said body, said rotary vane being attached to said rotatable center shaft;
• a fixed vane attached to said body, said fixed vane and said rotary vane partitioning said internal volume into a first chamber and a second chamber;
• an MR fluid flow path out of said first chamber and into said second chamber,
• an MR fluid flow control valve positioned along said MR fluid flow path;
• and
• a solenoid defined by a plurality of coils wrapped about said rotatable shaft for generating a magnetic field when an electric current is applied to the solenoid;
• and
• a linear-to-rotary motion translation mechanism coupled to said rotatable shaft
• wherein rotation of said shaft moves said rotary vane to compress the MR fluid in said first chamber, thereby applying a resistant torque moment to said shaft.