Investigation on Magnetorheological Effect of Novel Self-healing Magnetorheological Elastomers

Magnetorheological elastomers(MREs)hold significant promise in various fields such as automotive engineering,and civil engineering,where they serve as intelligent materials.Depending on the application of an external magnetic field,these materials exhibit varying magnetorheological and viscoelastic properties,including shear stress,yield stress,dynamic moduli,and damping.In this work,a new type of MRE,termed self-healing MREs(SH-MREs),has been developed by adding a novel self-healing agent into existing MREs.The dynamic modulus and loss factor of SH-MREs with different compositions have been characterized under various conditions of frequency,temperature,and strain.The results show that as the strain value increases,the loss factor also increases.Moreover,the loss factor initially increases and then decreases with increasing magnetic field strength.Although higher concentrations of ferromagnetic particles increase the loss factor,they enhance the operational range due to their better responsiveness to magnetic fields.SH-MREs demonstrate improved damping capabilities,attributed to the formation of coordination bonds between ferromagnetic particles and the self-healing agent.The stable structure increases the viscosity of MREs.The results of the regression model suggest a direct proportionality between sensitivity to the magnetic field and the ferromagnetic particle concentration.

Numerical Analysis on Magnetic-induced Shear Modulus of Magnetorheological Elastomers Based on Multi-chain Model

Based on the magnetic interaction energy, using derivative of the magnetic energy density, a model is proposed to compute the magnetic-induced shear modulus of magnetorheological elastomers. Taking into account the influences of particles in the same chain and the particles in all adjacent chains, the traditional magnetic dipole model of the magnetorheological elastomers is modified. The influence of the ratio of the distance etween adjacent chains to the distance between adjacent particles in a chain on the magnetic induced shear odulus is quantitatively studied. When the ratio is large, the multi-chain model is compatible with the single chain model, but when the ratio is small, the difference of the two models is significant and can not be neglected. Making certain the size of the columns and the distance between adjacent columns, after constructing the computational model of BCT structures, the mechanical property of the magnetorheological elastomers composed of columnar structures is analyzed. Results show that, conventional point dipole model has overrated the magnetic-induced shear modulus of the magnetorheological elastomers. From the point of increasing the magnetic-induced shear modulus, when the particle volume fraction is small, the chain-like structure exhibits better result than the columnar structure, but when the particle volume fraction is large,the columnar structure will be better.

Magnetic field-dependent inductance properties based on magnetorheological elastomer

Magnetorheological(MR)materials are a class of smart material,whose the mechanical/rheological state can be controlled under a magnetic field.Magnetorheological materials are typically fluids,gels,or elastomers.In this study,anisotropic and isotropic magneto-rheological elastomer(MRE)samples were fabricated using a silicone rubber matrix with carbonyl iron particles as filler particles.The magnetic field-dependent inductance properties of these samples were studied using inductors specially designed for the analysis.The effect of the filler particle content,fabrication conditions,and inductance properties were characterized using a self-built system in both constant and transient magnetic fields.These factors show a significant effect on the inductance properties of the MRE inductor under an applied magnetic field.The anisotropic MRE inductor was more sensitive than the inductor based on an isotropic MRE.Owing to the presence of a constant magnetic field,the inductance value of the MRE inductor decreased with an increase in the external magnetic field.An attempt in elucidation of the mechanism is reported here.This study may enable the MRE to be widely used in practical applications such as monitoring magnetic field or detecting the filler particle content inside MR materials.

Effect of Cyclic Deformation on Magnetorheological Elastomers

Fatigue properties of magnetorheological elastomer （MRE） samples were investigated based on cis-polybutadiene rubber by using a fatigue test machine. Three MRE samples with iron particles mass fraction of 60%, 70%, and 80% were fabricated, and their properties dependence of three strain amplitudes （50%, 75%, and 100%） were measured. The absolute magnetorheological （MR） effect, storage modulus, and loss modulus of MRE samples after fatigue were evaluated by a modified dynamic mechanical analyzer. The results revealed that MR effect, storage modulus, and loss modulus of MREs containing 80% iron particles depended strongly on the strain amplitudes and the number of cycles, while storage mod-ulus and loss modulus of MREs containing 70% iron particles also depended on the strain amplitudes and the number of cycles but not as strongly as sample which contains 80% iron particles, but the properties of MREs containing 60% iron particles after cyclic deforma-tion were almost independent of the fatigued conditions. In order to investigate the fatigue mechanism of MREs, the sample was carried out with a quasi-static tensile testing and its surface morphology during testing was observed in situ by scanning electron microscopy.

Radiation Vulcanization of Magnetorheological Elastomers Based on Silicone Rubber

The fabrication of magnetorheological （MR） elastomers was studied by two vulcanization methods, including heat vulcanization （HV） and radiation vulcanization （RV）, were employed to fabricate MRE samples. The dynamical mechanical properties were characterized by using a dynamic mechanic analyzer. In particular, both the MR effect and its durability were investigated. The experimental results showed that RV samples have large magnetoinduced modulus, large zero-field modulus, and good durability property of MR effect. To explain these results, cubic deformation and plasticizer migration were analyzed. Large magneto-induced modulus of RV sample results from cubic deformation during vulcanization process. And the plasticizer migration results in better durability of MR effect.

Damping of Magnetorheological Elastomers

The damping property of magnetorheological （MR） elastomers is characterized by a modified dynamic mechanical-magnetic coupled analyzer. The influences of the external magnetic flux density, damping of the matrix, content of iron particles, dynamic strain, and driving frequency on the damping properties of MR elastomers were investigated experimentally. The experimental results indicate that the damping properties of MR elastomers greatly depend on the interfacial slipping between the inner particles and the matrix. Different from general composite materials, the interracial slipping in MR elastomers is affected by the external applied magnetic field.

Enhancement in Magnetorheological Effect of Magnetorheological Elastomers by Surface Modification of Iron Particles

In order to obtain magnetorheological （MR） elastomers with high magnetorheological effect, a family of anisotropic rubber-based MR elastomers was developed using a new form of chemical modification. Three different kinds of surfactants, i.e. anionic, nonionic and compound surfactants, were employed separately to modify iron particles. The MR effect was evaluated by measuring the dynamic shear modulus of MR elastomer with a magneto-combined dynamic mechanical analyzer. Results show that the relative MR effect can be up to 188% when the iron particles are modified with 15% Span 80. Besides the surface activity of Span 80, however, such high modifying effect is partly due to the plasticizing effect of Span 80. Compared with the single surfactant, the superior surface activity of compound surfactant makes the relative MR effect reach 77% at a low content of 0.4%. Scanning electron microscope observation shows that the modification of compound surfactant results in perfect compatibility between particles and rubber matrix and special self-assembled structure of particles. Such special structure has been proved beneficial to the improvement of the relative MR effect.

Analysis and Verification on the Chain-like Model with Normal Distribution of Magnetorheological Elastomer

Magnetorheological elastomer （MRE） is a new kind of smart materials, the rheological properties can be controlled rapidly by the external magnetic field. It is mainly composed of rubber and micron-sized ferromagnetic particles, which forms a chain-like structure. Therefore its mechanical, electric, and magnetic properties can be changed by the applied magnetic field, which is called as the magneto-induced effect. But this effect is not remarkable enough currently for the engineering application. So it is important for material preparation to optimize parameters to enhance the magneto-induced effect. In this work, based on chain-like model, some factors influencing the magneto-induced effect of MRE were analyzed theoretically by using dipole method with the normal distribution of chain＇s angle introduced. The factors included the oblique angle of particles chains, magnetic field intensity, and shear strain, etc. Some experiments were also carried out.

Performance of magnetorheological elastomer based torsional vibration isolation system for dynamic loading conditions

Vibration isolation is an effective method to mitigate unwanted disturbances arising from dynamic loading conditions. With smart materials as suitable substitutes, the conventional passive isolators have attained attributes of semi-active as well as the active control system. In the present study, the non-homogenous field-dependent isolation capabilities of the magnetorheological elastomer are explored under torsional vibrations. Torsional natural frequency was measured using the serial arrangement of accelerometers. Novel methods are introduced to evaluate the torsional stiffness variations of the isolator for a semi-definite and a motor-coupled rotor system. For the semi-definite system, the isolation effect was studied using the frequency response functions from the modal analysis. The speed-dependent variations for motor-coupled rotor system were assessed using the shift in frequency amplitudes from torque transducers. Finite element method magnetics was used to study the variations in the non-homogenous magnetic field across the elastomer. The response functions for the semi-definite rotor system reveal a shift in the frequency in the effect of the magnetic field. Speed-dependent variations in the frequency domain indicate an increment of 9% in the resonant frequency of the system.

Investigate the Effect of the Magnetic Field on the Mechanical Properties of Silicone Rubber-Based Anisotropic Magnetorheological Elastomer during Curing Process

In this investigation,a new silicone rubber-based MRE material was prepared to be used as a forming medium in manufacturing thin-walled complexshaped Ni-based tubes through the bulging process.Thus,it is significant to investigate the effect of magnetic field intensity,magnetic field loading time,and angle on the mechanical properties of the prepared MRE material during the curing process.The obtained results showed that increasing the magnetic field intensity during the curing process can improve the orientation of the chain structure in the elastomer matrix effectively.However,its mechanical properties are the best under the corresponding magnetic field intensity of 321 mT.Besides,by extending the magnetic field loading time in the curing process,the orientation of the chain structure was optimized,at the same time,the mechanical properties were also improved,and the best loading time is about 20–25 min.By changing the loading angle of the magnetic field during the curing process,the mechanical properties of the MRE were improved.When the loading angle of the magnetic field is 90°,the elastomer showed the best compression mechanical properties and excellent compression reversibility.Besides,for the anisotropic MRE material,the performance with magnetic compression is always better than that without magnetic compression.

A novel approach to investigate effect of magnetic field on dynamic properties of natural rubber based isotropic thick magnetorheological elastomers in shear mode

The preparation of natural rubber based isotropic thick magnetorheological elastomers(MRE) was focused on by varying the percentage volume concentration of carbonyl iron powder and developing a test set up to test the dynamic properties. Effect of magnetic field on the damping ratio was studied on the amplification region of the transmissibility curve. The viscoelastic dynamic damping nature of the elastomer was also studied by analyzing the force-displacement hysteresis graphs. The results show that MR effect increases with the increase in magnetic field as well as carbonyl iron powder particle concentration. It is observed that softer matrix material produces more MR effect. A maximum of 125% improvement in the loss factor is observed for the MRE with 25% carbonyl iron volume concentration. FEMM simulation shows that as carbonyl iron particle distribution becomes denser, MR effect is improved. FEMM analysis also reveals that if the distance between the adjacent iron particles are reduced from 20 μm to 10 μm, a 40% increase in stored energy is observed.

Magnetorheological elastomer and smartphone enable microfluidic biosensing of foodborne pathogen

Rapid detection of foodborne pathogens is crucial to prevent the outbreaks of foodborne diseases.In this work,we proposed a novel microfluidic biosensor based on magnetorheological elastomer(MRE)and smartphone.First,micropump and microvalves were constructed by deforming the MRE under magnetic actuation and integrated into the microfluidic biosensor for fluidic control.Then,the micropump was used to deliver immune porous gold@platinum nanocatalysts(Au@PtNCs),bacterial sample,and immunomagnetic nanoparticles(MNPs)into a micromixer,where they were mixed,incubated and magnetically separated to obtain the Au@PtNC-bacteria-MNP complexes.After 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine and hydrogen peroxide were injected and catalyzed by the Au@PtNCs,smartphone was used to measure the color of the catalysate for quantitative analysis of target bacteria.Under optimal conditions,this biosensor could detect Salmonella typhimurium quantitatively and automatically in 1 h with a linear detection range of 8.0×10^(1) CFU/mL to 8.0×10^(4) CFU/mL and a detection limit of 62 CFU/mL.The microfluidic biosensor was compact in size,simple to use,and efficient for detection,and might be used for in-field screening of foodborne pathogens to prevent food poisoning.

Semi-Active Predictive Control of Isolated Bridge Based on Magnetorheological Elastomer Bearing

Time-delay of magnetorheological elastomer bearing(MRB) can bring structural response menace to bridges. This paper investigates a bridge pier-bearing semi-active-coupling control method based on model predictive control(MPC). The presented strategy takes the structure prediction model to predict the state responses of the controlled plant in a period of future time. Then, the control law can be determined by solving a finite horizon optimization problem. The peak shearing force of pier top, the displacement and the acceleration of beam are chosen as control goals, and the vibration isolation rate is applied to characterize the vibration isolation effect.It is noted that MPC method naturally takes the time-delay and uncertain interference into consideration, and significantly improves the control performance of the system. Finally, the numerical example is described and the seismic response of isolated bridge based on MRB is analyzed. The simulation results show that predictive control can be used to control the time-delay of bridge system in different degrees. The best control performance is at0.4 s. Even if the time-delay reaches 2 s, it is still good. Therefore, the control method significantly reduces the adverse effects of time-delay on the system, and has a good vibration isolation performance.

Experimental and numerical study on surface roughness of magnetorheological elastomer for controllable friction

Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is a type of smart material of which mechanical and electrical properties can be reversibly controlled by the magnetic field. In this study, the influence of the magnetic field on the surface roughness of MRE was studied by the microscopic modeling method, and the influence of controllable characteristics of the MRE surface on its friction properties was analyzed by the macroscopic experimental method. First, on the basis of existing studies, an improved mesoscopic model based on magneto-mechanical coupling analysis was proposed. The initial surface morphology of MRE was characterized by the W–M fractal function, and the change process of the surface microstructures of MRE, induced by the magnetic interaction between particles, was studied. Then, after analyzing the simulation results, it is found that with the increase in the magnetic field and decrease in the modulus of rubber matrix, the surface of MRE changes more significantly, and the best particle volume fraction is within 7.5%–9%. Furthermore, through experimental observation, it is found that the height of the convex peak on the surface of MRE decreases significantly with the action of the magnetic field, resulting in a reduction in the surface roughness. Consistent with the simulation results, a particle volume fraction of 10% corresponds to a maximum change of 14%. Finally, the macroscopic friction experiment results show that the friction coefficients of MREs with different particle volume fractions all decrease with the decrease in surface roughness under the magnetic field. When the particle volume fraction is 10%, the friction coefficient can decrease by 24.7% under a magnetic field of 400 mT, which is consistent with the trend of surface roughness changes. This shows that the change in surface morphology with the effect of the magnetic field is an important factor in the control of MRE friction properties by magnetic field.

Effects of punch size, magnetic field, and magnetorheological elastomers medium on forming T-shaped thin-walled Inconel 718 tubes

This study aims at investigating the impact of using the Magnetorheological Elastomers(MREs)medium to improve the formability of T-shaped Inconel 718 tubes during the bulging process.Besides,the influence of the punch size and the intensity of the magnetic field on the branch height and wall thickness distribution of the T-shaped Inconel 718 tubes are also explored.The results showed that the parts formed by the punch with a length of 5 mm in the pressurization zone have better forming quality.The external magnetic field can promote a high branch,and by increasing the intensity of the magnetic field,the branch height was increased and then decreased.At the same time,the magnetic field reduced the amount of material accumulation between the guiding zone and the bulging zone.Besides,it promotes the material in the guiding zone to enter the bulging zone and improve the bulging ability of the T-shaped tube.

Nonlinear characterization of magnetorheological elastomer-based smart device for structural seismic mitigation

Magnetorheological elastomer(MRE)has been demonstrated to be effective in structural vibration control because of controllable stiffness and damping properties with the effect of external magnetic fields.To achieve a high performance of MRE device-based vibration control,a robust and accurate model is necessary to describe nonlinear dynamics of MRE device.This article aims at realising this target via nonlinear modeling of an innovative MRE device,i.e.MRE vibration isolator.First,the field-dependent properties of MRE isolator were analysed based on experimental data of the isolator in various dynamic tests.Then,a phenomenal model was developed to account for these unique characteristics of MREbased device.Moreover,an improved PSO algorithm was designed to estimate model parameters.Based on identification results,a generalised model was proposed to clarify the field-dependent properties of the isolator due to varied currents,which was then validated by random and earthquake-excited test data.Based on the proposed model,a frequency control strategy was designed for semi-active control of MRE devices-incorporated smart structure for vibration suppression.Finally,using a three-storey frame model and four benchmark earthquakes,a numerical study was conducted to validate the performance of control strategy based on the generalised current-dependent model with satisfactory results.

Dynamic Analysis of the Non-Linear Behavior of a Composite Sandwich Beam with a Magnetorheological Elastomer Core

This work deals with the active control of the vibrations of mechanical structures incorporating magnetorheological elastomer. The damping coefficient and shear modulus of the elastomer increase when exposed to a magnetic field. Compared with the vibration control where the elastomer is permanently exposed to a magnetic field, the control of this process through time reduces vibrations more effectively. The experimental study for the vibrations of a sandwich beam filled with an elastomer is conducted, followed by a numerical study using the Abaqus code. The vibration damping is found to be dependent on the loading rate of micro-size ferromagnetic particles in the elastomer.

Design and performance study of a segmented intelligent isolation bearing

In this paper,a novel type of isolator,named segmented intelligent isolation bearing(SIIB),is designed and manufactured,which can meet the requirements of seismic fortification under three seismic intensities,i.e.frequent intensity,basic intensity,and rare intensity.A theoretical formula for the output of the SIIB is established to provide a basis for the determination of the size of the SIIB.MRE and STMP used in SIIB were prepared,of which the changes of shear storage modulus and damping factor with the magnetic field under different strain are analyzed.The mechanical properties of the SIIB under small displacement,medium displacement,and large displacement are tested,respectively,and the hysteretic characteristics of force–displacement are analyzed.The dynamic mechanical model combining the rheological model,phenomenological model,and bilinear restoring force model is established to represent the behavior of the SIIB.The results showed that the theoretical results agree well with the experimental results,and the model can significantly reflect the dynamic characteristics of SIIB.