Smart materials such as magnetoactive elastomers (MAEs) combine elastic and magnetic properties that can be significantly changed in response to a magnetic field and therefore offer enormous potential for applications in both scientific research and engineering. When such an elastomer contains microsized hard magnetic particles, it can become an elastic magnet once magnetized in a strong magnetic field. This article studies a multipole MAE with the aim of utilizing it as an actuation element of vibration-driven locomotion robots. The elastomer beam has three magnetic poles overall with the same poles at the ends and possesses silicone bristles protruding from its underside. The quasi-static bending of the multipole elastomer in a uniform magnetic field is investigated experimentally. The theoretical model exploits the magnetic torque to describe the field-induced bending shapes. The unidirectional locomotion of the elastomeric bristle-bot is realized in two prototype designs using magnetic actuation of either an external or an integrated source of an alternating magnetic field. The motion principle is based on cyclic interplay of asymmetric friction and inertia forces caused by field-induced bending vibrations of the elastomer. The locomotion behavior of both prototypes shows a strong resonant dependency of the advancing speed on the frequency of applied magnetic actuation.

中文翻译：

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用于振动驱动运动的多极磁活性弹性体。

磁活性弹性体 (MAE) 等智能材料结合了弹性和磁性特性，可以响应磁场而发生显着变化，因此在科学研究和工程方面具有巨大的应用潜力。当这种弹性体含有微米尺寸的硬磁颗粒时，一旦在强磁场中磁化，它就可以变成弹性磁体。本文研究了多极 MAE，旨在将其用作振动驱动运动机器人的驱动元件。弹性体梁整体具有三个磁极，两端具有相同的磁极，并具有从其下侧突出的硅胶刷毛。对多极弹性体在均匀磁场中的准静态弯曲进行了实验研究。该理论模型利用磁扭矩来描述场引起的弯曲形状。弹性刷毛机器人的单向运动是通过使用外部或集成交变磁场源的磁驱动在两种原型设计中实现的。运动原理基于弹性体场致弯曲振动引起的不对称摩擦力和惯性力的循环相互作用。两个原型的运动行为都显示出前进速度对所施加的磁驱动频率的强烈共振依赖性。