Temperature dependent dynamic mechanical properties of Magnetorheological elastomers: Experiment and modeling

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are a group of smart composite materials which are composed of magnetic particles dispersed in an elastomeric matrix. The controllable dynamic properties of these materials rely on many factors, in which temperature is a significant influencing factor requiring further investigations. In this paper, the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) tests have been performed to determine the viscoelastic properties of MREs with different test conditions. Based on the experiment results, the dynamic properties of MREs is modelled respectively by fractional Maxwell model (FMM) and generalized Maxwell model (GMM), and then the master curve of complex modulus is constructed using the time-temperature superposition (TTS) principle. The results show that the transition behavior of the silicon rubber based MRE samples under uniaxial compression occurs at about 50 °C. The storage modulus exhibits two different trends with the temperature variation: It first decreases rapidly and then increases slightly or maintains a stable value with increasing temperature.