The Science Behind MagnaRide Suspensions: A Deep Dive into Viscoelastic Behavior and Non-Newtonian Fluids

As we sit here discussing the intricacies of suspension dampeners, it's essential to understand the underlying principles that govern their behavior. Traditional suspensions rely on Newtonian fluids for damping, but MagnaRide takes a different approach. The proportionality factor in these fluid-based dampers is viscosity, which increases with thickness. However, when magnetized, the fluid in Magneride dampers becomes a Bingham plastic – a non-Newtonian fluid exhibiting a yield stress that must be exceeded before flow begins.

This unique property of Bingham plastics means that the magnetic coils in MagnaRide dampers aren't altering the viscosity of the fluid per se. Instead, they're essentially turning the fluid into a plug that limits its flow rate during dampening. This characteristic allows for a more efficient and responsive suspension system. Adam, our colleague, often brings up ketchup as an example of non-Newtonian fluids – harder you shake it, firmer it becomes.

In the early days of MagnaRide, these suspensions were remarkable in their simplicity. The first two generations of Magneride dampers didn't have any mechanical internal parts that could fail or lag in response time. However, with the introduction of magnetic coils on each piston, a significant improvement was made to eliminate delays caused by eddy currents – temporary electrical loops of current induced within conductors by changing magnetic fields.

These eddy currents previously hindered the off-action of MagnaRide dampers, causing a noticeable delay in response time. The dual-coil system introduced in the third generation of Magneride effectively cancelled out these eddy currents, allowing for an even quicker responding suspension system. Furthermore, the new and improved ECU (Electronic Control Unit) design boasted three times the computing capacity as its predecessor, along with 10 times more memory.

This enhanced ECU enables greater tunability in different modes – from track marks to street modes in sport mode. The output of the ECU adjusts based on the same inputs, offering a wide range of shock settings that weren't previously available. With this level of customization and responsiveness, MagnaRide suspensions have become a benchmark for suspension technology.

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When we're not exploring the world of suspension technology or creating new content, we like to have a little fun. Don't tell my wife I used up all the molasses in the workshop, but it's become an essential ingredient for our DIY projects – and let's just say dish soap has found its way into some unexpected places as well.

By understanding the science behind MagnaRide suspensions and their non-Newtonian fluid behavior, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the intricacies of suspension technology. Whether you're a seasoned engineer or simply a car enthusiast, this article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the subject – so buckle up, folks!

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyou're cruising down the road nice and smooth and then pothole you got a pick if you want a firm shock or a soft shock or off-road shock wouldn't it be great there was one type of shock that could do all that guess what there is I'm talking about Magna ride suspension so you might know that most shocks work because of hydraulic dampening hydraulic dampening is the use of a fluid like oil to impede movement most traditional hydraulic shocks work kind of like syringe tube attached to the frame depresses a plunger component which pushes on the oil the same way this syringe can't depress if I cover the hole in order for the shock to move the oils gotta have somewhere to go so there's holes in the shock that let the oil move out of the way there's two ways to change how quickly this movement of the dampers can occur so I got two syringes here these plungers are gonna represent the dampers in your car the difference is in a shock there's holes inside this so the fluid moves entirely within the shock itself so one way to affect the dampening characteristics of a shock is by changing the viscosity the fluid this is just dish soap you know how about how thick that is right and clean that desk off this is molasses it's much thicker it's got much more resistance great so that's one way we could get different behaviors out of the same structures another way to change the rate of flow is to use the same fluid but change the holes through which it flows this is a fat needle this is a tiny skinny needle this one moves much quicker I got to work on my Grif stream so it's easy to see how changing the size of the holes in the damper also changes the behavior of the suspension traditional socks are white but traditional shocks are set you gotta prioritize do you want comfort at the expense of handling and stopping performance or performance we're gonna feel every little bump in the road there's some cars that try to have both sports suspension and cruising comfort by changing the flow of the fluid mechanically Bilstein develops shocks that will open holes in the dampers pull out less dampening and close them to provide more firmness there's sensors that detect roll forces and compressive forces from the road let's say you're cruising along in a nicely paved road while the dampers are open to absorb all those little bumps then when you turn quickly or brake real fast the dampers close restricting the flow of fluid and this provides firmness reducing body roll in improving handling man I hate it when there's rocks in my socks this type of variable mechanical dampening has been available in some pretty rad cars and it works pretty well with modern computing and processing the shocks can change firmness really quickly but they're still limited by the speed of the mechanical action inside the shock itself what if there is a way to instantly change the dampening without relying on mechanical parts why not use magnets that's a good idea but if you got magnets in there they're always gonna be working hey you talking about my girl I tell you what I go off and on but switch easy there electromagnet I'm just making a science show but he's right if you can turn a magnet on and off you can change the characteristics of a magnetized fluid electromagnet fever just talk see you guys later magnets how they work oh but before we get into some of this stuff make sure you're subscribed means a lot to us and it's how we get to bring you new shows this is where magneride comes in magneride was developed by the delphi automotive corporation for GM throughout the 90s and it debuted on the 2002 and a half Cadillac Seville STS so how does it work Magna ride damper fluid is a synthetic damper fluid plus tiny little iron microspheres when subjected to a magnetic field the fluid greatly increases its apparent viscosity to the point of becoming a viscoelastic solid importantly the yield stress of the fluid when it's in its active state can be controlled precisely by varying the magnetic field intensity in each of the monotube dampers is a piston containing two electromagnetic coils and two small fluid passages through the piston it used to be one coil but we'll get to that in a minute when a current is sent through the electromagnet it creates a magnetic charge of varying intensity that's how electromagnets work when the magnets are off the fluid travels through the passages freely but when they're on the iron particles in the fluid create a fibrous structure through the passages in the same direction of the magnetic field the strength of the bonds between the magnetized iron particles causes the effective viscosity of the fluid to increase resulting in a stiffer suspension if the sensor sends any body roll that communicate the information to the ECU the ECU will compensate for this by changing the strength of the current to the appropriate dampers instantaneously to demonstrate how a magnetorheological dampers we've got these two syringes connected with magnetorheological fluid inside these when things are moving normally easy-peasy this is a magnet we've just created a plug very similar to the way this works in a car suspension there's tiny little iron molecules mixed in here it's not the same proportion as what's in a shock absorber but let's see how they behave yeah call me get over here Luis yeah watch the show isn't it crazy you got it alright let's dig into that viscoelastic solid thing that I said earlier most traditional suspensions use a Newtonian fluid for dampening a Newtonian fluid is a simple fluid in which the state of stress at any point is proportional to the time rate of strain at that point when we talk suspension damper fluid the proportionality factor is viscosity with the thickness of it when magnetized the fluid in a magneride damper is known as a Bingham plastic a Bingham plastic is a non-newtonian fluid exhibiting a yield stress that's got to be exceeded before flow starts after that the rate of shear first shear stress curve is linear and all that means is that the magnetic coils in the damper aren't totally changing the viscosity of the fluid per se they're instead turning the fluid into a kind of plug that limits the flow of the dampening my buddy Adam is always saying that ketchup is a non-newtonian fluid harder you're shaken the firmer it gets that's why it won't come out it's 40 guy Adam can't get through breakfast without him talking about I get it the first two generations of magneride were great they didn't have any of the difficulties of mechanical internal parts that could fail and they didn't have to deal with the lag time of those same mechanical parts when the dampers closed or open but with the magnetic coil there was a small delay from when the ECU turned off the current to when the damper lost its magnetic field this was caused by a temporary electric current or an eddy current from the electromagnet eddy currents also called foo called currents are loops of electrical current induced with conductors by a changing magnetic field these currents hung around of them and slowed the off action of the damper the third generation of magneride introduced a second electromagnetic coil on the piston of each damper these two coils are wound in opposite directions from each other so that the eddy currents cancel out the dual coil system effectively eliminated the delay causing an even quicker responding suspension system BWI also redesigned the ECU in the third generation the new and improved ECU's got three times the computing capacity is the previous edition as well as 10 times more memory it's also got greater tunability cars got track marks street modes in sport mode that means the ECU is giving different outputs in each mode based on the same inputs so now it's not just like you got firm shocks and soft shocks like in the early days but you got like a million different shocks in one that's Magna ride suspensions make sure you're subscribed means a lot to us and it's how we get to bring you new shows thanks to Squarespace for partnering with us on this episode whether you need a domain a website or an online store you can make it with Squarespace guys share this app they have an all-in-one platform you don't have to install anything on your computer they even have 24/7 customer service hmm but I already have a website Bart well Squarespace makes it easy to transfer your existing domain so you don't have to give up tiny horses aren't ponies calm you can just move it on over to Squarespace and make it even better you can also use Squarespace to sell products online and manage your inventory easily when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com slash science garage to save 10% off your first purchase of a website our domain that's squarespace.com slash science garage go get a web set you morons support Squarespace cuz Squarespace supports us do you make a website with Squarespace let me know what it is I want to see it put on this little button to subscribe helps us create new shows and make great new content we have new stuff coming out every day of the week check out a new miracle with byron check out this new wheel outs I think it's pretty cool how stuff follow us on twitter and instagram at donut media follow me at bids Bardot go to shop bot donut media to get some cool shirts get some cool stickers don't tell my wife I used up all the molasses and dish soapyou're cruising down the road nice and smooth and then pothole you got a pick if you want a firm shock or a soft shock or off-road shock wouldn't it be great there was one type of shock that could do all that guess what there is I'm talking about Magna ride suspension so you might know that most shocks work because of hydraulic dampening hydraulic dampening is the use of a fluid like oil to impede movement most traditional hydraulic shocks work kind of like syringe tube attached to the frame depresses a plunger component which pushes on the oil the same way this syringe can't depress if I cover the hole in order for the shock to move the oils gotta have somewhere to go so there's holes in the shock that let the oil move out of the way there's two ways to change how quickly this movement of the dampers can occur so I got two syringes here these plungers are gonna represent the dampers in your car the difference is in a shock there's holes inside this so the fluid moves entirely within the shock itself so one way to affect the dampening characteristics of a shock is by changing the viscosity the fluid this is just dish soap you know how about how thick that is right and clean that desk off this is molasses it's much thicker it's got much more resistance great so that's one way we could get different behaviors out of the same structures another way to change the rate of flow is to use the same fluid but change the holes through which it flows this is a fat needle this is a tiny skinny needle this one moves much quicker I got to work on my Grif stream so it's easy to see how changing the size of the holes in the damper also changes the behavior of the suspension traditional socks are white but traditional shocks are set you gotta prioritize do you want comfort at the expense of handling and stopping performance or performance we're gonna feel every little bump in the road there's some cars that try to have both sports suspension and cruising comfort by changing the flow of the fluid mechanically Bilstein develops shocks that will open holes in the dampers pull out less dampening and close them to provide more firmness there's sensors that detect roll forces and compressive forces from the road let's say you're cruising along in a nicely paved road while the dampers are open to absorb all those little bumps then when you turn quickly or brake real fast the dampers close restricting the flow of fluid and this provides firmness reducing body roll in improving handling man I hate it when there's rocks in my socks this type of variable mechanical dampening has been available in some pretty rad cars and it works pretty well with modern computing and processing the shocks can change firmness really quickly but they're still limited by the speed of the mechanical action inside the shock itself what if there is a way to instantly change the dampening without relying on mechanical parts why not use magnets that's a good idea but if you got magnets in there they're always gonna be working hey you talking about my girl I tell you what I go off and on but switch easy there electromagnet I'm just making a science show but he's right if you can turn a magnet on and off you can change the characteristics of a magnetized fluid electromagnet fever just talk see you guys later magnets how they work oh but before we get into some of this stuff make sure you're subscribed means a lot to us and it's how we get to bring you new shows this is where magneride comes in magneride was developed by the delphi automotive corporation for GM throughout the 90s and it debuted on the 2002 and a half Cadillac Seville STS so how does it work Magna ride damper fluid is a synthetic damper fluid plus tiny little iron microspheres when subjected to a magnetic field the fluid greatly increases its apparent viscosity to the point of becoming a viscoelastic solid importantly the yield stress of the fluid when it's in its active state can be controlled precisely by varying the magnetic field intensity in each of the monotube dampers is a piston containing two electromagnetic coils and two small fluid passages through the piston it used to be one coil but we'll get to that in a minute when a current is sent through the electromagnet it creates a magnetic charge of varying intensity that's how electromagnets work when the magnets are off the fluid travels through the passages freely but when they're on the iron particles in the fluid create a fibrous structure through the passages in the same direction of the magnetic field the strength of the bonds between the magnetized iron particles causes the effective viscosity of the fluid to increase resulting in a stiffer suspension if the sensor sends any body roll that communicate the information to the ECU the ECU will compensate for this by changing the strength of the current to the appropriate dampers instantaneously to demonstrate how a magnetorheological dampers we've got these two syringes connected with magnetorheological fluid inside these when things are moving normally easy-peasy this is a magnet we've just created a plug very similar to the way this works in a car suspension there's tiny little iron molecules mixed in here it's not the same proportion as what's in a shock absorber but let's see how they behave yeah call me get over here Luis yeah watch the show isn't it crazy you got it alright let's dig into that viscoelastic solid thing that I said earlier most traditional suspensions use a Newtonian fluid for dampening a Newtonian fluid is a simple fluid in which the state of stress at any point is proportional to the time rate of strain at that point when we talk suspension damper fluid the proportionality factor is viscosity with the thickness of it when magnetized the fluid in a magneride damper is known as a Bingham plastic a Bingham plastic is a non-newtonian fluid exhibiting a yield stress that's got to be exceeded before flow starts after that the rate of shear first shear stress curve is linear and all that means is that the magnetic coils in the damper aren't totally changing the viscosity of the fluid per se they're instead turning the fluid into a kind of plug that limits the flow of the dampening my buddy Adam is always saying that ketchup is a non-newtonian fluid harder you're shaken the firmer it gets that's why it won't come out it's 40 guy Adam can't get through breakfast without him talking about I get it the first two generations of magneride were great they didn't have any of the difficulties of mechanical internal parts that could fail and they didn't have to deal with the lag time of those same mechanical parts when the dampers closed or open but with the magnetic coil there was a small delay from when the ECU turned off the current to when the damper lost its magnetic field this was caused by a temporary electric current or an eddy current from the electromagnet eddy currents also called foo called currents are loops of electrical current induced with conductors by a changing magnetic field these currents hung around of them and slowed the off action of the damper the third generation of magneride introduced a second electromagnetic coil on the piston of each damper these two coils are wound in opposite directions from each other so that the eddy currents cancel out the dual coil system effectively eliminated the delay causing an even quicker responding suspension system BWI also redesigned the ECU in the third generation the new and improved ECU's got three times the computing capacity is the previous edition as well as 10 times more memory it's also got greater tunability cars got track marks street modes in sport mode that means the ECU is giving different outputs in each mode based on the same inputs so now it's not just like you got firm shocks and soft shocks like in the early days but you got like a million different shocks in one that's Magna ride suspensions make sure you're subscribed means a lot to us and it's how we get to bring you new shows thanks to Squarespace for partnering with us on this episode whether you need a domain a website or an online store you can make it with Squarespace guys share this app they have an all-in-one platform you don't have to install anything on your computer they even have 24/7 customer service hmm but I already have a website Bart well Squarespace makes it easy to transfer your existing domain so you don't have to give up tiny horses aren't ponies calm you can just move it on over to Squarespace and make it even better you can also use Squarespace to sell products online and manage your inventory easily when you're ready to launch go to squarespace.com slash science garage to save 10% off your first purchase of a website our domain that's squarespace.com slash science garage go get a web set you morons support Squarespace cuz Squarespace supports us do you make a website with Squarespace let me know what it is I want to see it put on this little button to subscribe helps us create new shows and make great new content we have new stuff coming out every day of the week check out a new miracle with byron check out this new wheel outs I think it's pretty cool how stuff follow us on twitter and instagram at donut media follow me at bids Bardot go to shop bot donut media to get some cool shirts get some cool stickers don't tell my wife I used up all the molasses and dish soap