Experimental Research and Modeling of Magnetorheological Elastomers

Abstract

In this paper, new methods for fabricating magnetorheological (MR) elastomers are introduced. Two different MR elastomers, one made of polyurethane and the other made of natural rubber, are successfully fabricated. The experimental results show that the modulus of polyurethane MR elastomers can increase by 28% under a strong magnetic field. Comparatively, the rubber MR elastomer has low modulus change ability. A mathematical model to represent the stress-strain relationship of MR elastomers is presented. The model takes into account all the dipole interactions in a chain and the nonlinear properties of the host composite. The analytical results of the model are in agreement with experimental data.

Magnetorheological Elastomers and Their Applications

“…Davis [25] used finite element methods to analyze the modulus increase under varied magnetic fields. Shen et al [26] developed a model that takes into account the magnetic interactions of dipoles in the same chain and the nonlinear properties of the host composites. Most of models are based on the basis of the dipole model for particle energy interaction, and they have the assumption that the particles are the same size and shape.…”

Smart Magnetic Composites (SMC)

“…Among the materials for the MRE matrix, the rubbers predominate: the natural ones Davis (1999), the silicon ones Blom & Kari (2005), as well as the butadieneacrylonitrile ones with various content of the acrylic acid Lokander & Stenberg (2003b). Natural rubbers were also modified by adding polybutadiene (Buna CB55) Ginder et al (2002), or the zinc oxide, stearic acid and the sulphur Shen et al (2004). The silicone rubbers, in turn, were mixed with the silicon oil Gong et al (2005a), vinyl and toluene Wang et al (2006), as well as polyurethanes and the silicone oil Hu et al (2005).…”

Effect of stick-slip on magneto-rheological elastomer with a magnetic field

“…For example, the Ford Research Laboratory (US) developed variable stiffness suspension bushings using MREs. Gong developed a real-time tunable stiffness and damping vibration isolator based on MREs and other studies [2][3][4][5]. The tribology properties of MREs have been studied because the hardness of MRE can be changed by an applied magnetic field.…”