Impacts are commonly encountered in daily life, such as vehicle accidents, elevator malfunctions, or high-speed landing in helicopters. These impacts can present significant risks to the well-being and safety of humans, as well as cause harm to the structural integrity and reduce the longevity of the facilities. In the article, a shear-mode damper featuring magneto-rheological fluid is researched for impact applications. By distributing multiple coils along the working length, the proposed damper can generate gradually increasing damping force with the impact displacement. This leads to a smooth impact dissipation and minimizes harmful effects. The Bingham model-based quasi-static model is employed for the modeling of the magneto-rheological fluid impact damper. An optimization process using finite element analysis is then conducted for the design geometry, considering essential design criteria such as working length, expected damping force, and feasibility of installation. Grounded on the obtained solutions, the optimal design of the magneto-rheological fluid impact damper is implemented in detail. Experimental work on the proposed magneto-rheological fluid impact damper prototype is subsequently carried out for validation with thorough discussions.