Simulation Study on the Motion of Magnetic Particles in Silicone Rubber-Based Magnetorheological Elastomers

Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is an intelligent composite material and has been widely used in various fields such as vibration reduction and sensing. MRE has an excellent magnetorheological effect through the chaining of its internal magnetic particles. Current studies on MREs mainly focus on the preparation of materials and characterization of mechanical properties. However, very few studies have been conducted on the mechanism of magnetic particle motion during MRE curing. Based on the silicone rubber-based MRE, the motion mechanism of magnetic particles during curing was explored through numerical simulation. First, we analyzed the magnetic force and viscous force of magnetic particles in MRE and discussed the equations of motion of magnetic particles under applied magnetic field. Further, we established a uniform magnetic field model through the finite element method and simulated the motion of two magnetic particles under the magnetic field. Finally, we discussed the effects of particle distribution angles, particle radii, applied magnetic field strength, and distance between particles on particle velocity and displacement. The results show that the distance between particles has the greatest influence on the motion of magnetic particles, and the size of the distance between particles will affect the contact time of the particles, thus affecting the chain formation of magnetic particles in the MRE.