Influence of the remnant magnetization, size distribution and content of soft magnetic reinforcement in micro-mechanical behavior of polymer matrix composites

In this work, the influence of the remnant magnetization, size distribution and content of soft magnetic reinforcement in micro-mechanical behavior of polymer matrix composites (Fe81Ga19/silicone) are evaluated. Melt spinning ribbons were pulverized in a planetary milling machine to act as composite particle reinforcement. The instrumented microindentation behavior (Young's modulus and Vickers micro-hardness), the pseudo-creep and relaxation phenomena as a function of the microstructure have been studied. In general, the micro-hardness, stiffness and elastic recovery of the studied composite materials increased with the filler content. Magnetic saturation did not change with the milling technique, and composite remnant magnetization increased with either contend or particle size. Additionally, the magnetization process improved the Vickers micro-hardness and Young's modulus of composites. Finally, pseudo-creep and stress relaxation behavior was also dependent on Fe81Ga19 content and size distribution. •Micro-mechanical behavior and magnetization of Fe81Ga19/silicone composite materials were analyzed by instrumented micro-indentation.•Lower Fe81Ga19 content and bigger particles size distributions induces a diminution in pseudo-creep of composite materials.•Higher Fe81Ga19 contents and particle size distribution caused the lowering of the relaxation time.•The use of higher contents and bigger size distributions of Fe81Ga19 induces an increase in the remnant magnetization.•Remnant magnetization strongly conditioned the micro-mechanical behavior of Fe81Ga19/silicone composite materials.