The integration of shear-thickening fluids (STFs) into composite structures has been
investigated with the aim of tuning part stiffness and damping capacity under dynamic
deformation. Results from oscillatory rheological measurements for a STF based on
concentrated fused silica in polypropylene glycol were correlated with results
from vibrating beam tests on model sandwich structures containing layers of the
same STF sandwiched between polyvinyl chloride (PVC) beams. Above a critical
amplitude, the relative motion of the PVC beams provoked shear thickening of the
silica suspensions, and the vibration and damping properties were significantly
modified. These changes were related to the rheological response of the STF through
analytical calculations of strains in the STF layers, an approach that was verified
experimentally by replacing the STF with a slow-curing epoxy resin. The potential for
integrating STFs into structures exposed to dynamic flexural deformation, with
the aim of controlling their vibrational response, has thus been demonstrated.
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