Effect of magnetic field on surface characteristics of magnetorheological elastomer

Abstract

To explore the influence of magnetic field on surface characteristics of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs), the MREs with volume fractions of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% were fabricated. Then the surface observation experiments of metallographic microscope, white light interferometer and sliding friction test were carried out with magnetic field and without magnetic field. The surface observation shows that the surface magnetic particles of the sample are increased with the increase of volume fraction, and the surface roughness of the samples of each component is reduced, with the magnetic field, the ferromagnetic particles of MREs with the volume fraction of 5% is reduced most up to about 20%. The friction experiment results show that the friction coefficient is decreased with the increase of volume ratio and under the application of magnetic field, the 30% of MREs' friction coefficient is reduced by approximately 38% compared to the 5%. The ferromagnetic particle content on the surface of the MRE is a major factor affecting the friction characteristics.

Keywords

• magnetorheological elastomer
• metallurgical microscope
• white light interferometer
• surface roughness