TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of a Multilayered Magnetorheological Brake for Knee Orthosis Applications
AU - Shiao, Yaojung
AU - Hoang, Thang
AU - Kantipudi, Mahendra Babu
AU - Kao, Nung Chin
AU - Lai, Chien Hung
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was financially supported by National Taipei University of Technology and Taipei Medical University. (Project numbers: NTUT-TMU-103-04 and USTP-NTUT-TMU-104-08).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society. All right reserved.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - Traditional passive knee orthoses support patients to walk. However, they cannot enable patients achieve a regular walking rhythm. Conventional active knee orthoses (AKOs) can apply motors to help patients walk smoothly; however, their heavy weight, high cost, and high power consumption are not suitable for most consumers. This study developed a novel multilayer magnetorheological (MR) brake (MRB) for knee orthoses with variable resistance. This MRB overcomes the drawbacks of conventional knee orthoses and motor-driven AKOs. The MRB primarily comprises a rotor, stator, and single magnetic pole and MR layers. The rotor and stator have multiple discs; both sides of the discs are surrounded by MR fluid layers. This multilayer structure provides a relatively high torque density during braking. The proposed brake was optimized through electromagnetic simulations. Subsequently, an MRB prototype was fabricated, and its performance characteristics were experimentally examined to confirm the design requirements. The results showed that the proposed MRB achieved a torque and torque-volume ratio (TVR) of 12.5 N•m and 46 N•m/dm3, respectively. Because of the high TVR, this brake is more suitable than existing MRBs in AKO applications. Additionally, this brake exhibits advantages of rapid response (response time: 170 ms), easy control, low weight, and low power consumption.
AB - Traditional passive knee orthoses support patients to walk. However, they cannot enable patients achieve a regular walking rhythm. Conventional active knee orthoses (AKOs) can apply motors to help patients walk smoothly; however, their heavy weight, high cost, and high power consumption are not suitable for most consumers. This study developed a novel multilayer magnetorheological (MR) brake (MRB) for knee orthoses with variable resistance. This MRB overcomes the drawbacks of conventional knee orthoses and motor-driven AKOs. The MRB primarily comprises a rotor, stator, and single magnetic pole and MR layers. The rotor and stator have multiple discs; both sides of the discs are surrounded by MR fluid layers. This multilayer structure provides a relatively high torque density during braking. The proposed brake was optimized through electromagnetic simulations. Subsequently, an MRB prototype was fabricated, and its performance characteristics were experimentally examined to confirm the design requirements. The results showed that the proposed MRB achieved a torque and torque-volume ratio (TVR) of 12.5 N•m and 46 N•m/dm3, respectively. Because of the high TVR, this brake is more suitable than existing MRBs in AKO applications. Additionally, this brake exhibits advantages of rapid response (response time: 170 ms), easy control, low weight, and low power consumption.
KW - Knee orthosis
KW - Magneto-rheological (MR) fluid
KW - MR brake
KW - Multilayer
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M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112598831
SN - 0257-9731
VL - 42
SP - 81
EP - 91
JO - Journal of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineers, Transactions of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Series C/Chung-Kuo Chi Hsueh Kung Ch'eng Hsuebo Pao
JF - Journal of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineers, Transactions of the Chinese Institute of Engineers, Series C/Chung-Kuo Chi Hsueh Kung Ch'eng Hsuebo Pao
IS - 1
ER -