Static and dynamic performances of sandwich plates with magnetorheological elastomer core: Theoretical and experimental studies

Abstract

This paper investigates the static and dynamic performances of sandwich plates with magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) core, in which the MRE core includes two copper wire layers, two inner metal layers, and one MRE layer. First, based on the complex modulus method, the Jolly theory and the pre-defined magnetic coefficients, the dynamic moduli, and loss factors of MRE are assumed as a function of magnetic induction intensity. Furthermore, a theoretical model of the MRE sandwich plates (MRESPs) is proposed, which considers the internal magnetic field excitation and four types of panel materials, namely fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), fiber-reinforced polymer with carbon nanotubes (CNT-FRP), metal and fiber-metal hybrid (FMH) panels. After the deformation and energy equations are derived to solve the static bearing stiffness, dynamic stiffness, and damping parameters, some literature results are employed to provide the initial validation of the model developed. Subsequently, four MRESP specimens with the FRP, CNT-FRP, metal, and FMH panels are fabricated and measured to further verify the model as well as to evaluate the mechanical performance. The influence of critical geometric and material parameters related to MRE on static and dynamic properties is also discussed to summarize some practical conclusions for engineering applications.

Optimization Design of the Bending-Vibration Resistance of Magnetorheological Elastomer Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer Sandwich Sheets

“…First, the experimental results from Ref. [ 10 ] were used to verify the current model in predicting the vibration resistances of the MECFRPSSs. The cantilever boundary conditions of the specimens were achieved by a set of clamping fixtures.…”

“…The material and geometric parameters of panels, copper wire layers, inner metal layers, and MRE layer were provided by Ref. [ 10 ], as shown in Table 1 . Note that the magnetic field coefficients were obtained from the FRF data tested under different magnetic levels, as listed in Table 2 .…”

“…Additionally, Table 3 and Table 4 show the comparison results of the dynamic stiffness values and damping ratios obtained by our model and Ref. [ 10 ] with different magnetic induction amplitudes. Here, a good agreement was observed, as there were only small relative deviations in the dynamic stiffness and damping ratios with the corresponding maximum values being 4.7 and 9.0 %, respectively, which proves that the proposed model was capable of predicting the vibration resistances of the MECFRPSSs.…”

“…Magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) is a new smart material that has a good controllable capability of stiffness and damping effect [ 7 ], which can be utilized to improve the mechanical properties of magnetorheological elastomer carbon fibre reinforced polymer sandwich sheets (MECFRPSSs). Based on our previous studies, several efforts were devoted to modelling and analysing the static and dynamic properties of composite sandwich sheet structures with local or overall MRE material or core [ 8 , 9 , 10 ]. However, it is still a question of how to obtain optimal design results for such structures with better bending-vibration resistance.…”

Dynamic performance of co-cured composite structure with sandwich damping film

“…The influence of structural parameters on the dynamic characteristics was also analyzed. The dynamics and nonlinear vibration theory of sandwich composites were discussed by Li et al 27–29 Therefore, Yan et al have done detailed research on the free vibration of composite plates under simply supported boundary conditions. 14–26 However, there are few studies on the free vibration of co-cured damped composite structures under fixed boundary conditions.…”