Vibration analyses of the annular plate with electrorheological fluid damping treatment

Dynamic analysis of an annular sandwich plate with a constraining layer and an electrorheological (ER) fluid core is analyzed in the present paper. The annular plate is fully treated with an ER fluid core layer and a constraining layer to improve the vibration behavior of the system. The Rayleigh-Ritz method is employed to derive the equations of motion for the annular sandwich plate. The effects of the natural frequencies and loss factors on the dynamic behavior of the sandwich annular plate are studied. The rheological property of an ER material, such as viscosity, plasticity, and elasticity may be changed when applying an electric field. The ER fluid core is found to have a significant effect on the vibration behaviors of the sandwich annular plate. The modal dampings and the natural frequencies for the sandwich annular plate are calculated for various electric fields. When an electric field is applied, the damping of the system is more effective. The effects of the thickness ratio of the base plate, ER fluid core, and the constraining layer on the natural frequencies and modal loss factors are also discussed. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.