Grey Goop

Super Goop: An Ambiguous Substance Could Animate Robots, Prevent Earthquake Damage
By Amanda Onion
An article appearing in the October 2, 2002 issue of ABCNews.com.

Oct. 2 A fluid that can transform from a liquid to a solid within milliseconds could soon be running through the "veins" of robots to give them a soft, human-like touch. When not near a magnetic pull, so-called MR fluids appear as gray, unextraordinary oily liquids. But apply a magnetic force and the fluid instantly becomes the texture of thick clay. By pumping the fluid into an electronic sensing system that activates a magnetic field, it can be used to power robots, stabilize buildings and smooth bumpy automobile rides. "These fluids have properties that can change in an instant when you apply magnetic fields," says Henri Gavin, a professor of engineering at Duke University. "This gives great flexibility in how you can design devices." MR fluids are not new (?); the substance was discovered in the 1940s (?) but recently the fluid has been improved and researchers are devising new ways of putting it to use. The stiffness of the fluids can now be adjusted a thousand times a second. NASA thinks they can do better and will be sending an MR fluid experiment to the space station in November to study the fluid so they can further improve it. "We're trying to take it to the next level," says Juan Agui, project scientist with NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

Iron in Oil
MR fluid is already applied in a wide range of mechanisms. It's used to provide resistance in Nautilus home step machines and exercise bicycles. The fluid is incorporated into advanced shock absorption systems in some cars and even prosthetic limbs. And North Carolina's Lord Corporation is now working on developing washing machines with the magnetic dampers so they can operate with little vibration and virtually no noise. Some are hopeful it could offer the next wave in building stabilization. Engineers in Japan have become the first to install the technology to help stabilize buildings against tremors. And China's Dong Ting Lake Bridge is kept steady by the technology.

A primitive version of MR fluid can be crafted by adding iron filings to corn oil. Hold a magnet nearby and the mixture stiffens as the iron filings form lattice structures pointing toward the magnet. Professional MR fluids contain basically the same mix, but use a specially designed hydrocarbon as the oil and soft iron particles shaved so small that a bag of them looks like dark sand. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently concocted another substance for adding to the mix that prevents a common problem: clumping. "The additive transforms the fluid from a free flowing liquid to something like a yogurt over a period of hours," explains Gavin. "The 'yogurt' holds the iron filings in place." When activated, Gavin explains, the yogurt-like substance instantly becomes liquid again and then transforms into its stiffer, more solid form. This kind of advance is particularly a key for damping systems in buildings since the MR fluid is rarely activated and iron filings are more likely to clump after time. Gavin explains the MR fluid would be placed in a shock absorbing system that fits into an isolation system of a building. As motion detectors sense movement, they trigger a matching magnetic pulse. The pulse then stiffens the MR fluid accordingly and steels the building against shaking. General Motors is installing the magnetic damping system in the seats of their 2003 Corvette and Oldsmobile models to offer a super smooth ride. Prosthetic joint manufacturers have also begun installing MR fluids in artificial leg joints to soften a wearer's steps. And Russian company recently announced plans to use MR fluids in super cushioned running shoes.

Fighting Clumping in Space

This November, engineers at NASA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hope to better understand how the tiny suspended particles interact and improve the fluid's performance by studying their interaction in the low gravity environment of the space station. "The force between any two particles is minuscule," explains Alice Gast, a professor of chemical engineering at MIT who is leading the research. "We think by understanding the details of these forces, we'll be able to understand how to keep the filings from clumping and make them more effective." The research could eventually be applied to help NASA smooth space station docking, minimize wear and tear from repositioning satellites and better suppress vibrations during rocket launches. But Gast believes one of the best applications for the fluid will be in animating the hands and limbs of robots so they move as naturally as any human's. "Think about using a robot to pick up an egg," she says. "If the magnetic fluid were running in the veins of the hand you could tune it so it would apply just the right force and no eggs would be broken."

Space-Age Goop Morphs Between Liquid and Solid

by Erik Baard, Technology Correspondent
An article appearing in the September 5, 2001 issue of Space.Com, a publication dedicated to space and space related content.

A material that might pass as Play-Doh for Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism in the Marvel Comics universe, may be critical to the success of future space missions in ways both mundane and exotic. Magneto-rheological (MR) materials are fluids that solidify into a pasty consistency in the presence of a magnetic field (as molecules assemble in somewhat stiff chains along field lines), and then reliquefy when that force is removed. One can also achieve a similar effect with electric fields. In either case, the fluids can do work that in the past involved intricate moving parts. In its simplest form, an MR fluid can be filings suspended in corn oil, but more advanced materials are made from high-tech ceramics mixed with specialized synthetic polymer media. The newer forms use elastics to combat MR fluids? Achilles heel: settling and clumping. The first stages of the technology were best known for providing resistance in exercise machines and to make advanced shock absorbers in cars. But the wonder goop has worked its way into space engineers toolboxes to suppress vibrations during rocket launches, and, when mixed with abrasives, to precisely polish astronomical lenses and mirrors. Future applications envisioned for interplanetary exploration include: dampening tremors on geologically active planets and moons, controlling the movement of remote-controlled suits, smoothing the bumps of space station docking, preventing the buckling of delicate solar arrays when a probe or satellite emerges from an eclipse, regulating oxygen flow within space stations, reducing stress caused by repositioning satellites, and creating molds that can be reconfigured to manufacture different machine parts in a pinch. Back on Earth, you may see MR fluids popping up as Braille that can be scrolled and amended as easily as text on a monitor, as a stabilizing leg brace for the elderly or disabled, or as an injection to block blood flow to cancerous tumors. Prosthetics, tremors and footwear Because they are soft and respond to stimuli faster than human tissue, MR fluids and their cousins are being considered for virtual reality simulations called haptic interfaces, and theres even been a U.S. patent granted for an MR "penile prosthetic." One Russian proposal to make athletic footwear with MR fluids brings magical "flubber" to the mind of Ford Motors researcher John M. Ginder, who's developing infinitely practical shock absorbers with the stuff.

Henri Gaven, a professor of engineering at Duke University, is bullish on the possibility of shielding people and machines from tremors with MR fluids. Thats not just critical on Earth, but also on worlds like Venus and Jupiters moon Io. The materials involved in making an MR fluid can be relatively cheap, and more importantly for space missions, they spring into action with minimal energy consumption. "The beauty of MR materials is that they can be used to regulate hundreds of Watts of mechanical power with just a few Watts of electrical power," Gaven wrote in an email interview with SPACE.com. "For this reason, the energy balance is strongly in favor of MR materials, as opposed to other actuation methods, such as hydraulics, piezo-materials, or magneto-strictive materials." Borrowing astronauts' bodies MR fluids could be a key component of landing gear that adapt "automatically and instantaneously to the local geo-technical conditions of the landing site," Gaven said. The downside for space launches is that magnets can be heavy, costing more fuel to escape Earths gravity. But as magnetic technologies improve, we might start to see virtual realty suits that allow experts to "borrow" astronauts bodies, as they too wear special suits to perform highly specialized tasks, said Yoseph Bar-Cohen of NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Such tele-presence is at the core of his Memica program. One surprising virtual reality application conceived of by Bar-Cohen's research team is training doctors in deep space -- like the starship medical officers weve become accustomed to in science fiction who care for crews of hundreds, if not thousands of people coming in with illnesses and trauma on a daily basis. But our first deep space explorers are likely to be sent out in small crews. A doctors skills could rust with disuse. Bar-Cohen would like to see doctors constantly training by operating on virtual patients. MR fluids could simulate the resistance of human flesh, he says, so a surgeon wearing a virtual reality suit will have not only the look, but also the feel of soft tissue under his or her scalpel. Other astronauts also might wear the suits as a routine to provide the kind of full-body resistance needed to combat muscle atrophy in zero gravity, Bar-Cohen notes. Shape-shifting speculative One thing that the researchers agreed MR fluids wouldnt develop into anytime soon is a shapeshifting material. Ginder dismisses wild speculations in popular media about cars that can emerge from a wreck with a simple reset button.

"The difficulty is delivering a magnetic field to such a large structure and to shape it in such complex forms," he explains. "Its the same problem Braille systems would face even on that smaller, simpler scale. Gaven agrees. "Morphing shapes using MR materials and magnetic fields ... is far-fetched, in my opinion," he says. But breakthroughs in precise digital control of magnetic fields could spark an explosion in the emerging field. "Whenever you say something is not possible," Bar-Cohen said, "someone will beat you at it."

Engineer Explores Earthquake-Damping Materials

by Monte Basgall, ORC
An article appearing in the 1999-2000 issue of Duke Research.

Henri Gavins shaking table hums loudly in the Hudson Engineering Buildings basement as the tables veins fill with hydraulic fluid. He keys a few numbers into the devices computer controller, and with a sharp crack, the hydraulics jolt the table to mimic at one-fifth scale the wallop of the 1994 Northridge, California, earthquake, which killed 57 persons in the Los

The sudden thickening of gels could save buildings from earthquake damage, says engineer Henri Gavin.

Angeles area. Gavin, a civil and environmental engineer at the Pratt School of Engineering, has a multitude of such quake simulations stored in his computer, drawn from seismic data taken during the actual earthquakes. His critically important purpose in mounting these elaborate re-creations is to test the mettle of his experimental new breed of shake suppression devices for buildings. His quake-damping systems, which could make the difference between building failure and survival, depend on electro-rheological (ER) and magneto-rheological (MR) materials-substances that can change abruptly from free-flowing liquids to spongy or solid consistencies when subjected to electrical or magnetic fields. In full-scale shakesuppression systems, the materials would be stored in basement chambers that would electrically or magnetically activate themselves within milliseconds after a temblor strikes.

Like water frozen in mid-slosh, or fruit juice flash-thickened into a sudden gel, these fluids could be engineered to change their viscosity just enough to absorb much of the buildingdamaging energy as it strikes. At least thats his hope, said Gavin, who obtained the shaking table with a grant from the National Science Foundation. He also won a highly competitive Career Award from NSF to broaden his investigations of ER and MR materials for vibration suppression in structures during earthquakes. He has since received additional related support from the NSF and its Japanese counterpart for a joint program that will allow him to test his evolving experimental devices in 2001 on very large machines in Japan. ER and MR materials both consist of suspensions of microscopic particles in oils. These particles--roughly a fifteenth the diameter of a human hair in diameter--are normally randomly oriented in the oil. However, when exposed to strong electrical or magnetic fields, they become oriented in a particular direction, a phenomenon known as polarization. Once polarized, the materials quickly align themselves in the fields into fiber-like structures that mesh together and solidify. Gavin is designing devices in which ER or MR materials could sit inactive for years in a liquid resting state, then transform back and forth between solid and liquid during an earthquake to suppress the buildings vibrations. The suppression systems would be mounted within the lowest floors of buildings in proximity to rubber bearing pads and other compliant structures engineers already are installing to passively absorb shocks in earthquake-resistant structures. Passive structures like rubber pads are designed to disconnect the building from the ground, so that the structure is isolated from the trembling earth, Gavin said. However, if we get too much deformation or deflection between the building and the ground, then these bearing pads can rip apart. To prevent such structural ruptures, we want to try to limit that displacement, he said. But as you try to limit the displacement, the building is required to carry more of the earthquakes force. His research seeks to retain the best of both worlds, he explained. Buildings still would be constructed with passive measures like pads that could tolerate moderate deflections. But a parallel system employing ER or MR materials would also absorb part of a quake energy using its controllable damping and stiffening properties. The fluids would be stored in a container, typically the kinds of hydraulic cylinders used as shock absorbers. The sudden force changes from an earthquake would pressurize the fluid, forcing it to flow through narrow spaces. Simultaneously, sensors would react to the earthquake vibrations by activating electrical or magnetic fields in those spaces. And the viscosity of the ER and MR materials could be

adjusted by changing the strengths of the fields in response to the intensity and frequency of the shaking. The system would be controlled through electronic feedback--a method that regulates itself. Gavin has designed his own control system based on mathematical rules called Lyapunov Methods. He has also devised a container configuration that exposes more fluid volume to electrical or magnetic fields, thus improving the materials stiffening potential. There are challenges in implementing these materials, he acknowledged. When theyre in their so-called solid state, it doesnt take near as much stress to deform them as it would steel or aluminum or concrete. In other words, they are relatively weak. There are significant drawbacks in both of these materials, he continued. Its relatively simple to make mixtures that exhibit electro-rheological characteristics, but to make materials that are really useful requires quite a bit of chemistry. I think were at the very beginning of developing something that will probably be in widespread use after some very fundamental and persistent materials science issues are resolved. This general area is in a very young stage now. A separate problem, he said, is that magnetic fields take longer to generate than electrical fields, thus delaying EM fluid response times. On the other hand, MR materials are about an order of magnitude [10 times] stronger than ER materials, he noted. For now, Gavin and his earthquake control research team, currently including one senior undergraduate and three graduate students, continue to test their experimental ideas on Gavins basement shaking table. What we see in the news are the worst examples of disaster, and there are many structures that are partially damaged that dont make as good a news story, but could be significantly helped by this kind of research, he said.

Engineer Explores Quake-Damping Materials

by Monte Basgall
An article appearing in the February 18, 2000 issue of the Duke Dialogue, a publication for Duke faculty and staff.

Henry Gavin's shaking table hums loudly in the Hudson Engineering Building's basement as the table's veins fill with hydraulic fluid. He keys a few numbers into the device's computer controller, and with an sharp crack, the hydraulics jolt the table to mimic at one-fifth-scale the wallop of the 1994 Northridge, Calif., earthquake, which killed 57 in the Los Angeles area. Gavin, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Pratt School of Engineering, has a multitude of such quake reenactments stored in his computer, drawn from seismic data taken during the actual earthquakes. His important purpose in mounting these elaborate recreations is to test the mettle of his experimental new breed of shake suppression devices for buildings. His quake-damping systems, which could make the difference between building failure and survival, depend on "electro-rheological" (ER) and "magneto-rheological" (MR) materials substances that can change abruptly from free-flowing liquids to spongy or solid consistencies when subjected to electrical or magnetic fields. In full-scale shake-suppression systems, the materials would be stored in basement chambers that would electrically or magnetically activate themselves within milliseconds after a temblor strikes. Like water frozen in mid-slosh, or fruit juice flash-thickened into a sudden gel, these fluids could be engineered to change their viscosity just enough to absorb much of the building-damaging energy as it strikes. At least that's his hope, said Gavin, who obtained the shaking table with a research equipment grant from the National Science Foundation. He also won a highly competitive Career Award from the NSF to broaden his investigations of ER and MR materials for vibration suppression in structures during earthquakes.

He has since received additional related support from the U.S. scientific funding agency and its Japanese counterpart for a joint program that will allow him to test his evolving experimental devices in 2001 on very large scale machines in Japan. ER and MR materials both consist of suspensions of microscopic particles in oils. These particles, roughly a 15th of the diameter of a human hair in diameter, are normally randomly oriented in the oil. However, when exposed to strong electrical or magnetic fields, they become oriented in a particular direction, a phenomenon known as "polarization." Once polarized, the materials quickly align themselves in the fields into fiber-like structures that mesh together and solidify. Gavin is designing devices in which ER or MR materials could sit inactive for years in a liquid resting state, then transform back and forth between solid and liquid during an earthquake to suppress the building's vibrations. The suppression systems would be mounted within the lowest floors of buildings in proximity to rubber bearing pads and other compliant structures engineers already are installing to passively absorb shocks in earthquake-resistant structures. "Passive structures like rubber pads are designed to disconnect the building from the ground, so that the structure is isolated from the trembling earth," Gavin said. "However, if we get too much deformation or deflection between the building and the ground, then these bearing pads can rip apart." To prevent such structural ruptures, we want to try to limit that displacement," he said. "But as you try to limit the displacement, the building is required to carry more of the earthquake's force." His research seeks to retain the best of both worlds, he said. Buildings still would be constructed with passive measures like pads that could tolerate moderate deflections. But a parallel system employing ER or MR materials would also absorb part of a quake energy using its controllable damping and stiffening properties. The fluids would be stored in a container, typically the kinds of hydraulic cylinders used as shock absorbers. The sudden force changes from an earthquake would pressurize the fluid, forcing it to flow through narrow spaces. Simultaneously, sensors would react to the earthquake vibrations by activating electrical or magnetic fields in those spaces. And the viscosity of the ER and MR materials could be adjusted by changing the strengths of the fields in response to the intensity and frequency of the shaking. "There are challenges in implementing these materials," he said. "When they're in their so-called solid state, it doesn't take near as much stress to deform them as it would steel or aluminum or concrete. In other words, they are relatively weak. "There are significant drawbacks in both of these materials. It's relatively simple to make mixtures that exhibit electro-rheological characteristics, but to make materials that are really useful requires quite a bit of chemistry. "I think we're at the very beginning of developing something that will probably be in much wide spread use after some very fundamental and persistent materials science issues are resolved. This general area is in a very young stage now."

For now, Gavin and his earthquake control research team, currently including one senior undergraduate and three graduate students, continue to test out their experimental ideas on his basement shaking table. "What we see in the news are the worst examples of disaster, and there are many structures that are partially damaged that don't make as good a news story, but could be significantly helped by this kind of research."