Fabrication and characterization of magneto-rheological shear-stiffened elastomers

This study presents a novel smart solid material called magneto-rheological shear-stiffened elastomer (MRSSE) whose storage modulus can be changed obviously by both magnetic field and shear rate. The MRSSE was fabricated by mixing shear-thickening fluids (STFs) with carbonyl iron particles and silicon rubber thoroughly. All of the samples were then tested by using a parallel-plate rheometer. It is noted that increasing strain induces a slight decrease on the storage modulus, but an increase on the maximum shear stress of the samples before a critical shear strain. In terms of the magneto-rheological effect, MRSSE is more sensitive to the change of magnetic field because it shows a faster increase in storage modulus and the maximum shear stress with growing current levels when compared to magneto-rheological elastomer. The comparison results between different MRSSE samples reveal that the bigger the mass fraction of STFs the larger the storage modulus when the samples are loaded at a same shear rate. Additionally, the MRSSE shows an obvious increase on the storage modulus and the maximum shear stress when the shear rate increases.