In this paper, the effect of temperature on rheological properties of magnetorheological (MR) gel is investigated under rotational steady shear and oscillatory dynamic shear. A kind of fluid-like MR gel (MRG) was firstly synthesized by mixing carbonyl iron powder (CIP) with polymer matrix. Then, the relationship between yield stress, normal stress of MRG and shear rate under six temperatures and four magnetic field strengths were studied by rotational shear experiments. The results demonstrate that the dependence of shear stress on temperature displays an opposite tendency in comparison with that of normal stress on temperature. Moreover, maximum yield stress, one of the most important parameter of MR materials, decreases with the increment of temperature. Under oscillatory dynamic shear test, storage and loss moduli and normal stress of MRG all increase with temperature when a magnetic field is applied, which presents a contrary trend in the absence of a magnetic field. Related mechanisms about the alternation of microstructures of MRG were proposed to explain the above-mentioned phenomena. This paper is helpful in fabricating semi-active engineering devices using MR materials as a medium.
Keywords: dynamic yield stress; magnetorheological gel; normal stress; relative MR effect.