Artificial arteries are made in a myriad of ways and have just as many uses within the medical field. The focus of this research is to vary the amount of iron content along with the magnitude of the applied magnetic field to alter the sample’s mechanical properties such that they accurately represent arteries within people of different ages. The artificial arteries are fabricated using Magneto-Rheological Elastomers (MRE). MRE samples were made with zero percent, thirty percent, and sixty percent iron content, respectively. After fabrication, these samples were tested using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The DMA uses a spherical indenter to analyze the stiffness or modulus. During testing, an electromagnet was applied with magnitudes: 0 mT, 10mT, 20mT, 30 mT, 40 mT, 50mT, and 55mT. These tests concluded that as the percent iron content within the MRE sample increases, the force and the hysteresis loop increase at a proportional rate. This same result also holds true with the increase of the applied magnetic field. In the future, tests will be conducted using an artificial pulse generator. This pulse generator will pulse a fluid through the artery mimicking that of a heart within the human body. From this, the effect on the mechanical properties of the samples will be evaluated.
Author: Ethan Pennywitt
Faculty Advisors: Jeong-Hoi Koo Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Yingbin Hu Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
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