Magnetorheological Elastomers (MREs) are polymer composites comprised of an elastomer matrix material with a filler of magnetic particles. The interaction of the filler particles when exposed to a magnetic field can result in a change in stiffness and a strain. However, the main focus of previous research has been on field induced change in stiffness. The goal of this study is therefore to characterize the magnetostriction (field induced strain) of these materials. The measurement of the magnetostriction of MRE was carried out by placing the specimens in a magnetic field produced by a solenoid coil and measuring the resulting strain using a capacitive sensor. A one cycle sinusoidal voltage was input to the solenoid coil that surrounded the MRE specimen to produce the magnetic field. In order to study the effect of mass percentage of iron filler particles on magnetostriction, specimens with different iron filler composition varying from 10 to 30% were produced. The effect of bulk stiffness of the specimen and the magnitude of applied magnetic field on magnetostriction properties has also been studied. The results reveal that increasing the mass percentage of iron in the specimen increases the magnitude of the magnetostriction. In addition, the magnetostriction of MRE showed dependence on the level of applied magnetic field and on the bulk stiffness of the MRE specimens.
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