Finite element modeling of the deformation of magnetoelastic film

Recently a new class of biocompatible elastic polymers loaded with small ferrous particles, a magnetoelastic polymer, has been developed. This engineered material is formed into a thin film using spin casting. An applied magnetic field will deform the film. The magnetic deformation of this film has many possible applications, particularly in microfluidic pumps and pressure regulators. In this paper a finite element method suitable for the transient simulation of arbitrarily shaped three-dimensional magnetoelastic polymers subjected to time-varying magnetic fields is developed. The approach is similar to that employed in finite elment magnetohydrodynamic simulations, the key difference is a more complex hyperelastic material model. In order to confirm the validity of the approach, finite element solutions for an axially symmetric thin film are compared to an analytical solution based on the membrane (infinitely thin) approximation. For this particular problem the two approaches give qualitatively similar results and converge as the film thickness approaches zero.