Study of Mechanical Behavior and Microstructure of Magnetorheological Elastomers

Magnetorheological elastomers' mechanical property is greatly influenced by the microstructure of magnetizable particles embedded in the rubber matrix. When synthesizing magnetorheological elastomers, usually the mixture is cured in the presence of a magnetic field and particles are arranged in chainlike or columnar structure after the crosslink, in order to get remarkable effect controlled by the magnetic field. However curing under the magnetic field will face some problems, e.g. the preparation will become not convenient. In this paper magnetorheological elastomers are prepared in various volume fractions in the absence of a magnetic field. Their dynamic viscoelastic properties are tested by a system designed by ourselves. Their microstructures are observed by scan electronic microscope. Finally the inherent relation is revealed between the magnetoviscoelasticity and the distribution of particles in the matrix as well as the components of the mixture and the chemical technique. A kind of typical microstructure is found to be relative to the magnetoviscoelasticity of magnetorheological elastomers prepared in the absence of a magnetic field. This study also provides a guide when designing and preparing this kind of smart materials.