MR Inserts for Shock Wave Reduction in Warship Structures

The underwater explosion that has high energy brings about the shock wave and the pulsating gas bubble. In general, structural vibration from the shock wave is more serious than the pulsating gas bubble. This shock wave may damage the important fragile structures and equipment in the ship. This paper demonstrates the possibility of shock wave reduction in magneto-rheological (MR) inserts. The wave transmission of MR insert beam is experimentally investigated. A MR insert in an aluminum plate is made and two piezoelectric disks are used as transmitter and receiver. The transmission ratio between the transmitter and receiver is tested with and without magnetic field on the MR insert. The MR insert of the structure shows the capability of shock wave reduction. Details of the experiment are addressed.