Magnetostrictive Materials
Magnetostrictive materials exhibit coupling between magnetic and mechanical energies. Magnetostrictive materials exhibit mechanical deformation when driven by a magnetic field or vice versa. Therefore, they can be employed for actuation, sensing, and energy harvesting. All ferromagnetic materials exhibit the magnetostrictive effect, but only certain iron–rare earth alloys, iron–gallium alloys, amorphous metals, and iron‐ aluminum alloys exhibit sufficiently high magnetostriction for commercial use. Magnetostrictive materials are suitable for harsh environments (i.e., high temperature, radiation) and biomedical applications.
Ultrasonic waveguide thermometer (Active)
Sponsor: DOE Advanced Sensors & Instrumentation (ASI) Program
Ultrasonic wave propagation measured using a laser vibrometer.
Additive manufacturing of magnetostrictive materials
Sponsor: NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) grant
Our group has successfully printed magnetically-active composites by dispersing magnetostrictive particles in polymeric matrices. By printing magnetostrictive composites on top of passive substrates, we further developed cantilever actuators, also known as unimorph actuators, as shown in the figure on the left. When a magnetic field is applied along the longitudinal direction of the beam, the magnetostrictive layer deforms while the passive substrate tends to maintain flat. Therefore, the unimorph actuator outputs micro-scale and butterfly-shape tip deflection. This actuator can be potentially used for precision drug delivery or optical instrument control.
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