The settling stability of magnetorheological fluid (MRF) is an important aspect of magnetorheological research and an important indicator of MRF quality. The discrete element method (DEM) was proposed to study the multi-particle settling process of particles dispersed in silicon oil with different iron powder content, particle size, base viscosity, and added magnetic field. Then by preparing MRF, the zero-field viscosity, dynamic magnetic field viscosity, and settling stability of various MRF were measured and analyzed. The results show that the average kinetic energy of MRF settling decreases as particle content, particle size, and base fluid viscosity increase. With 50% iron powder content, 300 nm particle size, and 5% bentonite additive, MRF has the highest viscosity under zero field; under a dynamic magnetic field, the larger the particle size, the larger the viscosity; the MRF settling rate decreases by 18% with a change in iron powder content, decreases by 22.5% with a change in particle size to 300 nm, and decreases by 22% with a change in bentonite content. Under the application of a magnetic field, MRF hardly settles. The final experimental and simulation results are comparable, indicating that the MRF settlement characteristics can be predicted to some extent with the help of DEM simulation.

磁流变液（MRF）的沉降稳定性是磁流变研究的重要方面，也是MRF质量的重要指标。提出采用离散元法（DEM）研究不同铁粉含量、粒径、基粘度和外加磁场下分散在硅油中的颗粒的多颗粒沉降过程。然后通过制备MRF，对各种MRF的零场粘度、动磁场粘度和沉降稳定性进行了测量和分析。结果表明，MRF 沉降的平均动能随着颗粒含量、颗粒尺寸和基液粘度的增加而降低。铁粉含量为50%、粒径为300 nm、膨润土添加剂为5%时，MRF在零场下具有最高的粘度；在动态磁场下，粒径越大，粘度越大；磁流变沉降率随铁粉含量的变化而降低18%，随粒径变化至300 nm而降低22.5%，随膨润土含量的变化而降低22%。在施加磁场的情况下，MRF 几乎不会沉降。最终的实验结果与模拟结果具有可比性，表明借助DEM模拟可以在一定程度上预测MRF沉降特征。