Delphi’s controlled suspension MagneRide shocks will use MR fluid-based dampers to improve both ride and handling. Other benefits include improved wheel control, isolation as well as transient roll control.

"The MR technology in MagneRide provides the missing link to complete chassis integration," states Bill Gillespie, Delphi’s director of chassis systems engineering. "Conventional valve-based systems don’t have the response, the bandwidth, the authority or the turn-up ratio of MagneRide."

Under the four-year contract, Lord will provide virtually all MR fluid to be used in the Delphi shocks. The newly designed shocks are scheduled to be included on production vehicles in 2002 and 2003.

"We’ve worked very closely with Delphi to develop our fluid technology to meet their exceedingly high performance standards", explains Gerry Estes, vice president and general manager of the Materials Division of Lord Corporation. "As one of Delphi’s few strategic suppliers, we will continue to work closely with them to support their leadership in the application of this remarkable technology."

MR fluids are produced by suspending magnetically soft particles in a hydrocarbon or silicon fluid. Lord Corporation worked with Delphi to produce a fluid with a relatively low viscosity that is forced to flow through a magnetized opening to provide optimized performance for damper pistons. Delphi is the first high volume automotive shock manufacturer to incorporate MR technology into its products.

Lord has commercialized MR technology in a broad range of applications, from automotive suspension and vibration control, to consumer appliances, to medical prosthetics, to industrial pneumatics to seismic and wind vibration mitigation.

Link for more info: www.mrfluid.com