Recent Progress in Magnetorheological Gels and Elastomers

Magnetorheological gels and elastomers demonstrate the phenomenon that viscoelastic properties such as elastic modulus change in response to magnetic fields. The magnetorheological materials consist of polymeric matrices and magnetic particles. As the viscoelastic properties can be controlled by the magnetic field, the materials have been used for active dampers that are able to control the attenuation of vibration. The magnetic effect on the elastic modulus has been extensively improved for the last ten years. This review is a short survey of past investigations and patents on magnetorheological gels and elastomers, and presents feature problems of the materials.