Characterization of actuation properties of magnetorheological elastomers with embedded hard magnetic particles

This study investigates a new generation of magnetorheological elastomers based on hard magnetic particles. Unlike traditional magnetorheological elastomers that use iron particles, a dispersion of hard magnetic materials aligned in an electromagnetic field will produce a magnetorheological elastomer with magnetic poles. When a magnetic field is applied, perpendicularly to these poles, the filler particles generate torque and cause rotational motion of the magnetorheological elastomer blend. The primary goal of this study is to fabricate and characterize the actuation properties of magnetorheological elastomers filled with various hard magnetic particles. To this end, samples of magnetorheological elastomers consisting of hard magnetic materials were fabricated using four different particle types, and a test setup (electromagnet) was constructed. After mounting the magnetically anisotropic samples in a fixed-free configuration, uniform magnetic fields are applied to the samples (perpendicular to the poled direction), which causes the sample to bend, similar to a cantilevered beam. The blocked force and tip displacement of the samples were measured to characterize actuation properties of the samples. The results show that the responses of the deflection and the blocked force at the tip show linear trends over a reasonable range, suggesting that magnetorheological elastomers consisting of hard magnetic materials can be used as bending-type actuators in small mechanical systems and devices.