Cantilevers made of magnetoactive elastomer composites are the basic elements of miniature sensors, manipulators, and grippers. A system of mini-cantilevers ("cilia") on a plane is called a "cilia carpet." The cilia are vertical under normal conditions. They bend/straighten smoothly when subjected to a normally applied field, which makes it possible to displace objects situated on the "carpet"
For the first time, a different configuration of a single "cilium" has been considered, namely, a horizontally oriented "cilium" residing on a plane in the normally applied field. It has been found that in this case, gravity causes a radical change in the behavior of the system. The upward bending of the "cilium" is of a threshold type (see graphs) and its return to the horizontal configuration occurs smoothly as the field decreases. In the model developed to explain the behavior of the system, this effect is treated as a non-classical first-order transition.
O. V. Stolbov, G. V. Stepanov, Yu. L. Raikher, Field-induced upward bending of a magnetoelastomer cantilever residing on a horizontal plane: an unconventional cilium // Smart Materials and Structures, 2024