Experimental Analysis of Viscoelastic Properties of Room Temperature Vulcanized Silicone based Magnetorheological Elastomer

Abstract

Magnetorheological Elastomers (MRE) endure a change in mechanical properties with the application of an externally applied magnetic field. It consists of an elastomeric matrix reinforced with ferromagnetic powdered particles. This paper focuses on the investigation of viscoelastic properties of Room Temperature Vulcanized (RTV) silicone based isotropic MRE in sandwich beam configuration by varying the volume percentage of Carbonyl Iron Powdered (CIP) reinforcement. Viscoelastic properties of the MRE core material were calculated by following the ASTM E756-05 standard. The magnetic field was applied by employing a Halbach array which was numerically analysed using Finite Element Method Magnetics (FEMM). The magnetic field was varied up to 0.15 T. Loss factor and shear modulus were found to be strongly influenced by the percentage content of CIP. The loss factor and shear modulus of 30% MRE at 0.15 T were higher than other tested samples. The variation of natural frequency with respect to the addition of CIP was validated numerically using Modal analysis conducted in Hyperworks.