How does hard magnetic soft matter deform?
6 affiliations
- 1Program in Computational Mechanics, Carnegie Mellon University
- 2Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
- 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
- 4Department of Mathematics, Rutgers University
- 5Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston
- 6Center for Nonlinear Analysis, Carnegie Mellon University
Abstract
Hard Magnetic Soft Materials, i.e., elastomers seeded with hard magnetic particles, convert magnetic energy into complex motion and have become central to the design of untethered soft robots, biomedical devices, and, in general, for enabling fast, wireless actuation. Their behavior depends critically on how the surrounding soft matrix deforms and transmits torque to each magnetized inclusion, yet there is no consensus on the correct mapping between macroscopic strain and microscopic motion. Competing models predict conflicting particle rotations and magnetic responses under identical loads. Here, we construct counterexamples that show the key shortcomings in these models, and then establish a first-principles framework that leads to an optimal deformation mapping. The resulting closed-form law unifies conflicting models and shows that they are, in fact, simply different limits of our general approach. Our work permits the rational design of magnetically actuated soft devices and a unified view of deformation in magnetic soft matter, and broadly, in similar architectured materials.
Versions
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BibTeX
@article{katusele2026does,
title = {{How does hard magnetic soft matter deform?}},
author = {Daniel Katusele and Carmel Majidi and Liping Liu and Pradeep Sharma and Kaushik Dayal},
journal = {PNAS Nexus},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag345},
url = {https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag345/8907315},
note = {CC BY-NC 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - How does hard magnetic soft matter deform?
AU - Daniel Katusele
AU - Carmel Majidi
AU - Liping Liu
AU - Pradeep Sharma
AU - Kaushik Dayal
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - PNAS Nexus
DO - 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag345
UR - https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag345/8907315
AB - Hard Magnetic Soft Materials, i.e., elastomers seeded with hard magnetic particles, convert magnetic energy into complex motion and have become central to the design of untethered soft robots, biomedical devices, and, in general, for enabling fast, wireless actuation. Their behavior depends critically on how the surrounding soft matrix deforms and transmits torque to each magnetized inclusion, yet there is no consensus on the correct mapping between macroscopic strain and microscopic motion. Competing models predict conflicting particle rotations and magnetic responses under identical loads. Here, we construct counterexamples that show the key shortcomings in these models, and then establish a first-principles framework that leads to an optimal deformation mapping. The resulting closed-form law unifies conflicting models and shows that they are, in fact, simply different limits of our general approach. Our work permits the rational design of magnetically actuated soft devices and a unified view of deformation in magnetic soft matter, and broadly, in similar architectured materials.
SN - 2752-6542
ER -