Material modeling of frequency, magnetic field and strain dependent response of magnetorheological elastomer

Accurate modeling of material behavior is very critical for the success of magnetorheological elastomer-based semi-active control device. The material property of magnetorheological elastomer is sensitive to the frequency, magnetic field and the input strain. Additionally, these properties are unique for a particular combination of matrix and the filler loading. An experimental-based characterization approach is costly and time consuming as it demands a large amount of experimental data. This process can be simplified by adopting material modeling approach. The material modeling of magnetorheological elastomer is an extension of conventional viscoelastic constitutive relations coupled with hysteresis and magnetic field sensitive attributes. In the present study, a mathematical relation to represent the frequency, magnetic field and strain dependent behavior of magnetorheological elastomer is presented. The viscoelastic behavior is represented by a fractional zener element and the magnetic field and strain dependent attributes incorporated in the model by a magnetic spring and linearized Bouc-–Wen element, respectively. The proposed model comprised of a total of eight parameters, which are identified by minimizing the least square error between the model predicted and the experimental response. The variations of each parameter with respect to the operating conditions are represented by a generalized expression. The parameters estimated from the generalized expression are used to assess the ability of the model in describing the dynamic response of magnetorheological elastomer. The proposed model effectively predicted the stiffness characteristics with an accuracy, more than 94.3% and the corresponding accuracy in predicting the damping properties is above 90.1%. This model is capable of fitting the experimental value with a fitness value of more than 93.22%.