Magnetostatic Simulation in a Novel Magnetorheological Elastomer Based Loudspeaker Surround

This article delivers the application of magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) as a variable stiffness of surround in a loudspeaker. Firstly, the existing surround was replaced by a set of variable stiffness absorber featuring an MREs. In the preliminary stage, the magnetic circuit absorber was evaluated through simulation work. Then, the simulation using the finite element method magnetic (FEMM) was conducted to predict the performance of MREs. The applied currents were varied from 0 to 1.5 A with an interval of 0.25 A. Later, the average magnetic flux density obtained from the simulation was used for estimating shear storage modulus and shear loss modulus which taken from actual experimental data. The stiffness obtained by processing shear storage modulus and shear loss modulus with an analytical calculation method. Therefore, the performance of MREs could be evaluated. The suspension system MREs which have investigated have good performance, i.e., has a wide range of stiffness.