During the last few decades, magnetorheological (MR) elastomers have attracted a significant amount of attention for their enormous potential in engineering applications. Because they are a solid counterpart to MR fluids, MR elastomers exhibit a unique field-dependent material property when exposed to a magnetic field, and they overcome major issues faced in magnetorheological fluids, e.g. the deposition of iron particles, sealing problems and environmental contamination. Such advantages offer great potential for designing intelligent devices to be used in various engineering fields, especially in fields that involve vibration reduction and isolation. This paper presents a state of the art review on the recent progress of MR elastomer technology, with special emphasis on the research and development of MR elastomer devices and their applications. To keep the integrity of the knowledge, this review includes a brief introduction of MR elastomer materials and follows with a discussion of critical issues involved in designing magnetorheological elastomer devices, i.e. operation modes, coil placements and principle fundamentals. A comprehensive review has been presented on the research and development of MR elastomer devices, including vibration absorbers, vibration isolators, base isolators, sensing devices, and so on. A summary of the research on the modeling mechanical behavior for both the material and the devices is presented. Finally, the challenges and the potential facing magnetorheological elastomer technology are discussed, and suggestions have been made based on the authors’ knowledge and experience.

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A state-of-the-art review on magnetorheological elastomer devices

Magnetorheological (MR) materials are classified as smart materials due to their responsiveness to external magnetic stimuli. Intensive research on MR materials has led to broad applications in several potential fields. A solid carrier matrix state called MR elastomer with its exceptional magnetic responsive feature is obtained by merging magnetizable particles within an elastomeric polymer. This integration results in outstanding characteristics on the rheological performances. Special prominence is given to the understanding of the base materials and fabrication as well as the functional behavior through various characterization methods. Broad applications of MREs are also explored to provide a profound market picture and to motivate researchers to develop novel technology. The functional behavior of MREs is briefly explained. The art of the materials provides the current position and mapping of the matrix and filler particles. Types of matrix and particles are mentioned together with the level of the research interest on MREs. Description of the fabrication is provided in simple diagrams as summarized from previous works to enhance the MREs performance. The possible tests to reveal the characteristics of the MREs are delivered with the global experimental setup. The review also explains the applications of MREs as well as discussion on the MREs future promising applications.

Recent Progress on Magnetorheological Solids: Materials, Fabrication, Testing, and Applications†

Soft materials that can undergo rapid and large deformation through the remote and wireless action of external stimuli offer a range of tantalizing applications such as soft robots, flexible electronics, and biomedical devices. A natural and simple embodiment of such materials is to embed magnetic particles in soft polymers. Unfortunately, existing magnetically responsive soft materials such as magnetorheological elastomers and ferrogels typically use magnetically-soft particles such as iron and iron oxides, which are characterized by the low coercivity and hence lack the capability to retain remnant magnetism. Accordingly, their deformation is limited to simple elongation or shortening, rendering these materials substantially unsuited for the complex transformations required in many applications. To introduce shape-programmability, magnetically-hard particles with high coercivity have been incorporated in mechanically soft materials. In addition, recent works aimed at ameliorating this situation have developed fabrication techniques and facile routes to engineer rapid and complex transformations in a programmable manner by introducing intricate patterns of magnetic polarities in soft materials. The resulting structures, when properly designed, have been shown to exhibit a diverse and rich array of actuation behavior. In this work, we develop a suitable theoretical framework to analyze these so-called hard-magnetic soft materials to facilitate the rational design of magnetically activated functional structures and devices based on a quantitative prediction of complex shape changes. We adopt a nonlinear field theory to describe the finite deformation coupled with magnetic fields and argue that the macroscopic behavior of the fabricated materials requires a new constitutive classification — ideal hard-magnetic soft material — which assumes that (i) the material has a residual magnetic flux density, and (ii) the induced magnetic flux density exhibits a linear relation with the applied actuating magnetic field. We implement the theory and constitutive law in a finite-element framework and find remarkable agreement between the simulation and experimental results on various deformation modes of hard-magnetic soft materials. Using the developed (and validated) model, we present a set of illustrative examples to highlight the use of our model-based simulation to guide the design of experimentally realizable complex shape-morphing structures based on hard-magnetic soft materials.

Mechanics of hard-magnetic soft materials

Energy harvesting technology may be considered an ultimate solution to replace batteries and provide a long-term power supply for wireless sensor networks. Looking back into its research history, individual energy harvesters for the conversion of single energy sources into electricity are developed first, followed by hybrid counterparts designed for use with multiple energy sources. Very recently, the concept of a truly multisource energy harvester built from only a single piece of material as the energy conversion component is proposed. This review, from the aspect of materials and device configurations, explains in detail a wide scope to give an overview of energy harvesting research. It covers single-source devices including solar, thermal, kinetic and other types of energy harvesters, hybrid energy harvesting configurations for both single and multiple energy sources and single material, and multisource energy harvesters. It also includes the energy conversion principles of photovoltaic, electromagnetic, piezoelectric, triboelectric, electrostatic, electrostrictive, thermoelectric, pyroelectric, magnetostrictive, and dielectric devices. This is one of the most comprehensive reviews conducted to date, focusing on the entire energy harvesting research scene and providing a guide to seeking deeper and more specific research references and resources from every corner of the scientific community.

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Energy Harvesting Research: The Road from Single Source to Multisource.

This paper mainly introduces the research progress of MEMS electromagnetic vibration energy harvester, hoping to provide valuable guidance and reference for researchers in related fields. In this paper, recent studies are divided into three groups according to their objectives and approaches: reducing the resonant frequency of the harvester to collect low frequency vibration energy from the environment; broadening the bandwidth of the harvester to increase the utilization of the random vibration energy; and developing new process compatible with MEMS for mass production. Besides, maintaining valuable output performances, such as power and power density, is also an important concern in these studies. Limited to the current technology, it is impossible to make a perfect harvester with low resonant frequency, wide frequency band, good compatibility with MEMS, and good output performances at the same time. However, we can focus on one or two characteristics according to the application, to which this paper provides valuable reference. More works on simulation, new process, and detailed design of the components are required in MEMS electromagnetic vibration energy harvesters.

Review of MEMS Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvester

A differential mount with elastomers is installed to insulate vibration transmitted from the engine to the body through the propeller shaft. Since existing differential mounts adopt an elastomer of uniform stiffness, it is difficult to meet both the requirements for steering performance and driving comfort at the same time. In order to overcome this limitation, this study suggests a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE)-based stiffness-variable differential mount which allows the mount’s stiffness to vary reversibly or instantly. The stiffness-variable differential mount was designed with a new inner structure where a magnetic field can be induced in the MRE. Further, the geometry of the MRE was optimized by means of the response surface method to achieve a targeted level of stiffness. The variable performance of the stiffness-variable differential mount was evaluated with the dynamic stiffness when a current of 3 A (0.287 T) was applied. As a result, it was found that the average increase in dynamic stiffness was 4.41 kgf mm−1 over an excitation frequency range of 60–100 Hz, a critical point of variation for dynamic stiffness, and 3.60 kgf mm−1 over an excitation frequency range of less than 100 Hz.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0964-1726/22/11/115007/pdf

Magnetorheological elastomer with stiffness-variable characteristics based on induced current applied to differential mount of vehicles

Improvement of noise reduction performance for a high-speed elevator using modified active noise control

Optimization of sirocco fan blade to reduce noise of air purifier using a metamodel and evolutionary algorithm

In this study, we derived an equation of motion for an electromechanical system in view of the components and working mechanism of an electromagnetic-type energy harvester (ETEH). An electromechanical transduction factor (ETF) was calculated using a finite-element analysis (FEA) based on Maxwell’s theory. The experimental ETF of the ETEH measured by means of sine wave excitation was compared with and FEA data. Design parameters for the stationary part of the energy harvester were optimized in terms of the power performance by using a response surface method (RSM). With optimized design parameters, the ETEH showed an improvement in performance. We experimented with the optimized ETEH (OETEH) with respect to changes in the external excitation frequency and the load resistance by taking human body vibration in to account. The OETEH achieved a performance improvement of about 30% compared to the initial model.

Jin-Su Kim

Papers

Magnetorheological elastomer with stiffness-variable characteristics based on induced current applied to differential mount of vehicles

Improvement of noise reduction performance for a high-speed elevator using modified active noise control

Optimization of sirocco fan blade to reduce noise of air purifier using a metamodel and evolutionary algorithm

Optimization and performance improvement of an electromagnetic-type energy harvester with consideration of human walking vibration

Development of a sound quality index for the wash cycle process of front-loading washing machines considering the impacts of individual noise sources