Optimization Of Magneto-Rheological Elastomers For Energy Harvesting Applications

Recent works demonstrated the abilities of magneto rheological elastomers (MREs) for mechanical to electrical energy conversion. This class of materials consists of composites composed of a soft elastic matrix filled by ferromagnetic particles. In this work we focus primarily on anisotropic MREs featuring particles that are non-homogenously dispersed in the matrix but form of chains of particles. Such anisotropic MRE are good candidates for energy conversion and harvesting purpose because of the coupling between high magnetization of the soft ferromagnetic particles and low elastic modulus of the matrix; thus, the anisotropic MREs can convert a mechanical cyclic deformation into electric signal. In the framework of magnifying the conversion capabilities of such materials, this study reports the investigation of different filling factors of particles, submitted to various magnetic excitations and amplitudes of mechanical deformation. The multiscale analysis provided by this work, from local effect to global characterization, shows that optimal conditions depend on intrinsic material parameters (e.g. filling factor) as well as external conditions (mainly bias magnetic flux density and applied mechanical solicitation).