Control of the Damping Properties of Magnetorheological Elastomers by Using Polycaprolactone as a Temperature-Controlling Component

A novel kind of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) with controllable damping properties was developed in this study. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was selected as the temperature-controllable component in the cis-polybutadiene rubber (BR) based MREs. Several samples with different BR/PCL mass ratio matrixes were prepared. The dynamic performances of the samples, including loss factor, shear storage modulus, and loss modulus, were measured with a rheometer. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis indicated that PCL is a phase change material and it can transform from a semicrystalline solid to a liquated soft material by increasing the surrounding temperature above the PCL melting point. Experimental results showed that the damping properties of the MREs can be controlled by varying the PCL weight ratio, the temperature, and the magnetic field. The controlling mechanism was proposed and the influence factors were analyzed. Last, it was also observed that the magneto-induced modulus and the MR effect of the MREs were changed remarkably by the added PCL under different temperatures.