Abstract:The magnetorheological (MR) valve is a smart control mechanism that using the magnetorheologcial fluid as the working fluid. The advantages of regulating pressure drop and fast response time make it has a promising application prospects in the vibration attenuating system. In this paper, an annular type MR valve with a fluid flow resistance gap of 2.5mm was proposed; the working principle of the MR valve was expounded in detail. At the same time, the mathematical model of pressure drop was derived based on the Bingham model. The electromagnetic field model and fluid flow filed model were established using the finite element method (FEM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), respectively. The changes of the pressure drop under different applied currents were analyzed using both of simulation methods, and the simulation result of pressure drop in the FEM method was accorded with that in CFD method. The maximum pressure drop using the FEM method was 948kPa, while the maximum pressure drop using the CFD method was 1079kPa. Finally, the experimental test rig was set up to investigate the pressure drop of the proposed MR vale under different applied currents and different loading cases, the test results show that the maximum pressure drop is 662kPa at the applied current of 1.8A, and the pressure drop is independent of the loading cases. Furthermore, the experimental results were compared to the simulation results too, and they are accorded with each other to some extent. In a word, the relevant results can provide some guidance for the design of other types of MR valves.