Magnetorheological elastomers in tunable vibration absorbers

Filling an elastomeric material with magnetizable particles leads to mechanical properties -shear moduli, tensile moduli, and magnetostriction coefficients - that are reversibly and rapidly controllable by an applied magnetic field. The origin of the field dependence of these properties is the existence of field-induced dipole magnetic forces between the particles. These 'smart' composites, which are sometimes termed magnetorheological (MR) elastomers, have been explored for use in a number of components, including automotive suspension bushings. In these and other applications, the tunability of the stiffness can enhance the compliance-control or vibration-transfer performance of the complex mechanical systems in which they are used. In the present study, we have constructed a simple one-degree-of-freedom mass-spring system - an adaptive tuned vibration absorber - that utilizes MR elastomers as variable-spring-rate elements. This device was used not only to explore the performance of such tunable components, but also to extend measurements of the shear moduli of these materials to higher frequencies than has previously been reported. We find that the field-induced increase in moduli of these materials is effective to mechanical frequencies well above 1 kHz, and that the moduli are consistent with the behavior expected for filled elastomers.