Development of a boring bar with magneto rheological fluid damping and assessment of its dynamic characteristics

The boring operation is prone to chatter as the boring bar is slender and has an overhang. For chatter suppression, passive, semi-active or active control methods can be employed. In the present work, a boring bar has been specially designed to transfer vibration to a cantilever bar surrounded by magneto rheological (MR) fluid. The MR fluid when exposed to electromagnetic flux changes its rheological property within a certain range. Thus, the boring bar is able to exhibit variable damping characteristics by changing the excitation current. The modal parameters are experimentally obtained through an impact test and a shaker test. The variation of modal parameters with excitation current is discussed. A stability lobe diagram is also developed from the model parameters, showing safe and unsafe regions for operation. The semi-active boring bar developed in the present work can be used for the suppression of chatter during the boring operation.