Tuned, driven, and active soft matter

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are a class of recently emerged smart materials whose moduli are largely influenced when exposed to an external magnetic field. The MREs are particulate composites, where micro-sized magnetic particles are dispersed inside a non-magnetic polymeric matrix. These elastomers are known for changing their mechanical and rheological properties in the presence of a magnetic field. This change in properties is widely known as the magnetorheological (MR) effect. The MR effect depends on a number of factors such as type of matrix materials, type, concentration and distribution of magnetic particles, use of additives, working modes, and magnetic field strength. The investigation of MREs’ mechanical properties in both off-field and on-field (i.e. absence and presence of a magnetic field) is crucial to deploy them in real engineering applications. The common magneto-mechanical characterization experiments of MREs include static and dynamic compression, tensile, and shear tests in both off-field and on-field. This review article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the magneto-mechanical characterizations of MREs along with brief coverage of the MRE materials and their fabrication methods.

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A review on magneto-mechanical characterizations of magnetorheological elastomers

In this paper, an overview on a class of materials with high actual research interest will be given. Magnetic hybrid materials, i.e. liquid or elastic matrices filled with magnetic nano- or micro-particles provide the possibility to influence their mechanical behaviour by application of technically easily realizable magnetic fields. In particular, the viscous and elastic behaviour of magnetic hybrid materials can be influenced by magnetic fields. The physical reason for these changes are field-induced reconfigurations of the microstructure formed by the magnetic particles. Experimental techniques to observe these changes and their relation to changes in the mechanical behaviour of magnetic hybrid materials will be in focus of this review.

Microstructure and rheology of magnetic hybrid materials

The phase behavior of polymer solutions and composites is a complex issue and is of both technological and fundamental interest. For a better understanding of the microstructure formation in magnetorheological (MR) elastomers, x-ray micro-computed tomography (XμCT) investigations were carried out. Magnetorheological elastomers with 5% mass content of iron powder were prepared under different magnetic field strengths between 1 and 220 kA m−1. Through quantitative analysis, valuable information was obtained regarding the number, size and frequency distribution of column structures in MR elastomers, as well as the magnetic field required to force structure formation.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0964-1726/21/10/105018/pdf

XμCT analysis of magnetic field-induced phase transitions in magnetorheological elastomers

The interaction between two particles made of an isotropic linearly polarizable magnetic material and embedded in an elastomer matrix is studied. In this case, when an external field is imposed, the magnetic attraction of the particles, contrary to point dipoles, is almost wraparound. The exact solution of the magnetic problem in the linear polarization case, although existing, is not practical; to circumvent its use, an interpolation formula is proposed. One more interpolation expression is developed for the resistance of the elastic matrix to the field-induced particle displacements. Minimization of the total energy of the pair reveals its configurational bistability in a certain field range. One of the possible equilibrium states corresponds to the particles dwelling at a distance, the other—to their collapse in a tight dimer. This mesoscopic bistability causes magnetomechanical hysteresis which has important implications for the macroscopic behavior of magnetorheological elastomers.

/pdf/modeling-of-particle-interactions-in-magnetorheological-wyk8o0sslb.pdf

Modeling of particle interactions in magnetorheological elastomers

Anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) with four different mass percentages of iron powder were prepared in an external magnetic field. The inner structure of the samples was characterized by using computed tomography. It has been shown that this kind of non-destructive analysis of MRE samples can be efficiently used for a detailed structural investigation. It was found that even small changes in the mass content of the magnetic filler led to the formation of completely different morphologies, which were reproducible for all samples. There were the familiar column formations in patterns with a mass content of ~ 5% iron powder. Increasing the mass fraction to ~ 14% resulted in the formation of tubular structures. Samples with ~ 23 and ~ 33 wt% had a densely packed structure, where the particle formations broke up: meanders without particles penetrate the samples over the entire height like canyons.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0964-1726/21/1/015005/pdf

D Günther

Papers

X-ray micro-tomographic characterization of field-structured magnetorheological elastomers