Variable stiffness features can contribute to many engineering applications ranging from robotic joints to shock and vibration mitigation. In addition, variable stiffness can be used in the tactile feedback to provide the sense of touch to the user. A key component in the proposed device is the Biased Magnetorheological Elastomer (B-MRE) where iron particles within the elastomer compound develop a dipole interaction energy. A novel feature of this device is to introduce a field induced shear modulus bias via a permanent magnet which provides an offset with a current input to the electromagnetic control coil to change the compliance or modulus of a base elastomer in both directions (softer or harder). The B-MRE units can lead to the design of a variable stiffness surface. In this preliminary work, both computational and experimental results of the B-MRE are presented along with a preliminary design of the programmable variable stiffness surface design.

Date Published: 10 March 2014
PDF: 13 pages
Proc. SPIE 9058, Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials and Composites 2014, 90580X (10 March 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2048126

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9058:
Behavior and Mechanics of Multifunctional Materials and Composites 2014
Nakhiah C. Goulbourne; Hani E. Naguib, Editor(s)