Magnetorheological damper (MRD) is a new type of smart damper using magnetorheological effect, and it is widely used to reduce the vibration in the fields of vehicles, bridges, buildings and so on. The working principle of the MRD was introduced. Different structures of the damper were described. The key steps of the structural design of magnetorheological damper were pointed out. At the same time, the different structural optimization methods based on comparative analysis, ANSYS parametric programming language and Taguchi experimental design were discussed in detail. At last, the optimal design method based on experimental design and response surface method was proposed.