Electrical Properties of Magneto-Rheological Elastomers

A magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is comprised of ferromagnetic particles aligned in a polymer medium by exposure to a magnetic field. The structures of the magnetic particles within elastomers are very sensitive to the external stimulus of either mechanical force or magnetic field, which result in multi-response behaviors in MRE. In this study, sensing properties of MREs through experimentally characterizing the electrical properties of materials and theirs interfaces with external stimulus (magnetic field or stress/strain) are investigated. A phenomenological model is proposed to model the impedance response of MREs. Results show that MRE samples exhibit significant changes in measured values of impedance and resistance in response to compressive deformation, as well as applied magnetic field.