Coupled Analysis by Viscoelastic Body with Rigid Body for Design of MRE Soft Actuator

Abstract

The magneto rheological elastomer (MRE) is composed of silicone elastomers and ferromagnetic powders that are responsible for its ferromagnetic and viscoelastic properties. The shape and the stiffness of the MRE change depending on the magnetic field. Therefore, it is expected to be used for artificial muscle or damping material. We developed a coupled analysis method by combining the moving particle semi-implicit/simulation (MPS) method with the finite element method (FEM) for the design of the MRE actuator. However, this method does not take into account a rigid body. Therefore, when analyzing the coil embedded in the MRE, it was difficult to calculate parameters such as the coil rotation and position. Therefore, this paper presents a numerical method for MRE actuator analysis by coupling MPS method with FEM to arrive at a calculation method for a rigid body. The numerical algorithm is described, and the calculated results are shown.