Fabrication and Characterization of Isotropic and Anisotropic Magnetorheological Elastomers, Based on Silicone Rubber and Carbonyl Iron Microparticles

Polymers (Basel). 2018 Dec 5;10(12):1343. doi: 10.3390/polym10121343.

Abstract

This article focuses on studying the rheological behavior of isotropic and anisotropic magnetorheological elastomers (MREs), made of carbonyl iron microparticles dispersed into a silicone⁻rubber matrix by considering 20 and 30 wt % of microparticles. Sample sets were prepared for each composition, with and without the application of an external magnetic field. Experimental measurements of the material rheology behavior were carried out by a shear oscillatory rheometer at constant temperature, to determine both the shear storage modulus (G') and shear loss modulus (G'') for all characterized samples. Then, experimental data collected from the isotropic and the anisotropic material samples were used to plot the Cole-Cole diagrams to quantify the interfacial adhesion between carbonyl iron microparticles and the silicone-rubber matrix. Furthermore, the Fractional Zener Model (FZM) with two spring-pots in series is used for quantitative analysis of collected experimental data.

Keywords: Cole-Cole diagram; carbonyl iron microparticles; fractional Zener model; magnetorheological elastomer.