Damping Effect of Multi-Layer Beams with Embedded Electro-Rheological Fluid

Abstract

The damping effect of multi-layered composite beams with embedded ER fluid layers is investigated. A three-layer beam was composed of the aluminum layers bonded together by silicone rubber with an internal cavity filled with ER fluid. The damping factor of the beam can be controlled by the voltage between the elastic layers. To increase the damping effect, an inner layer was inserted into the cavity so that the composite beam consists of three elastic layers and two ER fluid layers. The frequency characteristics of the three-layer beam and the five-layer beam were investigated experimentally and numerically. The results show that the damping factor of the composite beams can be considerably raised by increasing the electric field. The natural frequency of the beams increases with the field due to the variation of stiffness of the ER fluid layers. The influence of size of inner layer on the damping effect of the five-layer beam was also investigated. It is shown that the damping factor of a five-layer beam could be larger than that of a three-layer beam if the size of the inner beam is appropriately designed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1. Y. S. Jeon , Y. T. Choi , S. B. Choi and C. C. Cheong , Feedback Control for Vibration Attenuation in an ER Engine Mount, Proc. of 6th Int. Conf: On Electro-Rheological Fluids, Magneto-Rheological Suspension and TheirApplications, pp. 721-729, World Scientific, 1998.

2. K. S. Kim , D. B. Choi , C. C. Cheong and M. S. Suh , A Continuously Variable ER Damper with Energy Generation, Proc. of 6th Int. Coqf On Electro-Rheological Fluids, Magneto-Rheological Suspension and Their Applications, pp. 730-737, World Scientific, 1998.

3. M. Nakano and T. Yonekawa , Active Damper Using Electrorheological Suspension and Its Application to Vibration Isolation Control, Trans. of JSME, Ser C, 64(619), pp. 33-40, 1996.

4. H. Kobayashi, et al., Fundamental Performance of the Controllable Vibration Damper using Electro-Rheological Fluid, Trans. of JSME, Ser C, 59(566), pp. 3008-3012, 1993.

5. S. Morishita and Y. K. An , On Dynamic Characteristics of ER Fluid Squeeze Film Damper, Trans. of JSME, Ser C, 61(591), pp. 4245-4250, 1995.

6. K. Maemori and N. Kawauchi , A hydraulic Shock Absorber Using Electro-Rheological Fluid, Trans. of JSME, Ser C, 61(591), pp. 4251-4255, 1995.

7. T. M. Marksmeier, et al., Design and Performance of an Electro-Rheological Grease (ERG) Shock Absorber, Proc. of 6th Int. Conf On Electro-Rheological Fluids, Magneto-Rheological Suspension and Their Applications, pp. 697-704, World Scientific, 1998.

8. B. Khusid, et al., Electrorheological Squeeze-Flow Shock Absorber, Proc. of 6th Int. Conf On Electro-Rheological Fluids, Magneto-Rheological Suspension and Their Applications, pp. 705-712, World Scientific, 1998.

9. C.-Y. Lee , Finite Element Formulation of a Sandwich Beam with Embedded Electro-Rheological Fluids, J Intell. Mater Svst. And Struct., 6(5), 1995.

10.

10. M. Yalcintas and J. P. Coulter , Electrorheological material Based Adaptive Beams Subjected to Various Boundary Conditions, J Intell. Mater Svst. And Struct., 6(4), 1995.

11.

11. J. Tani , T. Takagi , H. Nakaniwa , K. Ohtomo and K. Kosugo , Vibration Suppression Effect of Liquid Crystal under Electromagnetic Field, J Intell. Mater Syst. And Struct., 7(3), 1996.

12.

12. D. J. Mead and S. Markus , The Forced Vibration of a Three-Layer, Damped Sandwich Beam with Arbitrary Boundary Conditions, J Sound and Vib., 10( 2), pp. 163-175, 1969.