Effect of lubrication on the mechanical behavior of magnetorheological elastomers in compression mode

The effect of the lubrication on the mechanical behavior of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) in compression mode is experimentally studied. According to ISO 7743, there are two procedures to characterize specimens in compression mode. Differences in the properties of these materials between lubricated and non-lubricated conditions must be considered if devices such as vibration absorbers and isolators are to be developed. With lubrication, compression is said to be uniaxial and homogeneous, thus material properties can be obtained. Without lubrication, tests are easier to perform but results are strongly dependent on the piece shape. In this study isotropic and anisotropic MREs with iron particle volume concentrations of 10, 20, 30 and 40% are tested under different strain amplitudes, prestrain and magnetic fields for a frequency range up to 300 Hz, with and without lubrication. Important design parameters like amplitude, frequency and magnetic field dependency are showed to be dependent on lubrication.