Numerical Study on Surface Reconstruction and Roughness of Magnetorheological Elastomers

A methodology is implemented to deform the surface of a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) exposed to an external magnetic field by means of data matrix manipulation of the surface. The elastomer surface is created randomly using the Garcia and Stoll method to realize a nonuniform morphology similar to that found in real MREs. Deformations are induced by means of the translations of the magnetic particles inside the elastomer, under the influence of a uniform magnetic field, generating changes in the surface roughness. Our model computes these deformations using a three-dimensional Gaussian function bounded at 2 standard deviations from its mean value, taking as the standard deviation value the radius of the particle that causes the deformation. To find the regions deformed by the particles, we created a methodology based on the consultation, creation and modification of a system of matrices that control each point of the random surface created. This methodology allows us to work with external files of initial and subsequent positions of each particle inside the elastomer, and allows us to manipulate and analyze the results in a smoother and faster way. Results were found to be satisfactory and consistent when calculating the percentage of surface deformation of real systems.