Test setup for examination of magneto-mechanical properties of magnetorheological elastomers with use of a novel approach

•A test stand for investigation of damping properties of MRE was constructed.•Magnetic Halbach arrays were constructed to generate changeable magnetic field.•A system and a software for control of the experiment was prepared.•An experiment with use of thermoplastic MRE for variable excitation was conducted.•Non-linearity of the MRE material was presented.

This paper presents an experimental setup aiming at evaluating the magneto-mechanical and damping properties of the thermoplastic magnetorheological elastomer (MRE). The idea of the system is to create controllable conditions similar to those present in a vehicles and other mechanical constructions and to make it possible to determine parameters only relating to the MRE material itself. The test stand is based on four samples stimulated with highly effective Halbach arrays. The upper plate of the test stand is excited with use of a modal shaker to assure a constant impact force value during each test. This enables control of impact character and allows automation of the test stand. The last section of this paper presents preliminary test conducted to find the resonance frequency dependence on the impact force of the system for a constant value of magnetic field. The results indicate non-linear behavior of the material and therefore exclude use of the simple Kelvin-Voight model based approach for damping properties determination, that is a commonly used model for description of different materials.