The smart magneto-rheological visco-elastomer (MRVE) has a promising application to vibration control.Its dynamic characteristics are described by complex moduli which are applicable to linear dynamics.However,experimental results show remarkable nonlinear relations between force and deformation for certain large deformations,and the nonlinear dynamic modeling needs to be developed.The present study focuses on the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of MRVE.The MRVE was fabricated and specimens were tested to show nonlinear mechanical properties and dynamic behaviors.The nonlinear effect induced by applied magnetic fields was investigated.A phenomenological model for the dynamic behaviors of MRVE was proposed to describe the nonlinear elasticity,linear damping and hysteretic effect,and the corresponding equivalent linear model in the frequency domain was also given for small deformations.The proposed model is applicable to the dynamics and control analysis of composite structures with MRVE. The smart magneto-rheological visco-elastomer (MRVE) has a promising application to vibration control. Its dynamic characteristics are described by complex moduli which are applicable to linear dynamics. However, experimental results show remarkable nonlinear relations between force and deformation for certain large deformations , and the nonlinear dynamic modeling needs to be developed. The present study focuses on the nonlinear dynamic characteristics of MRVE. The MRVE was fabricated and specimens were tested to show nonlinear mechanical properties and dynamic behaviors. The nonlinear effect induced by applied magnetic fields was investigated .A phenomenological model for the dynamic behaviors of MRVE was proposed to describe the nonlinear elasticity, linear damping and hysteretic effect, and the corresponding equivalent linear model was the frequency domain was also given for small deformations. The proposed model is applicable to the dynamics and control analysis of composite structures with MR VE.