Vibration Characteristics of Rotating Sandwich Beams Filled with Electrorheological Fluids

Dynamic modeling and vibration characteristics of a rotating sandwich beam filled with an electrorheological (ER) materials layer are investigated in this study. The stress—strain relationship for the ER fluids is described by a complex shear modulus using linear visco-elasticity theory. A dynamic equation of the rotating ER beam is derived based on Hamilton's principle. The coupling and nonlinear equation is discretized and solved by the finite element method (FEM). The influence of various electric field strengths and rotating speeds on the natural frequencies and damping loss factors of the rotating ER beam are presented. The amplitudes of vibration at different operation conditions are compared. The results obtained indicate that significant vibration attenuation is achieved as the electric field is increased at different rotating speeds, and demonstrate the feasibility of using the ER fluids to control the vibration of the rotating beam.