Cd. Berg et al., COMPOSITE STRUCTURE-ANALYSIS OF A HOLLOW CANTILEVER BEAM FILLED WITH ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUID, Journal of intelligent material systems and structures, 7(5), 1996, pp. 494-502
Unwanted vibrations within structures can become an ever increasing pr
oblem as structural components are made lighter with the use of advanc
ed materials and tighter design tolerances. Increased operating bandwi
dth further compounds the problem resulting in the build up of unwante
d vibrations within optimally designed structures. The alteration of t
he spectral signature of a structural component will enable the aforem
entioned design criteria to be satisfied. The use of a hollow structur
al component filled with Electro-Rheological fluid will enable the spe
ctral signature of the component to be altered electrically. Experimen
tal data obtained for a hollow cantilever beam filled with Electro-Rhe
ological fluid is presented in this paper. Analysis of the data is car
ried out to determine heuristic values for the beams effective stiffne
ss and damping coefficient. The effects of applying an electric field
to the ER fluid are outlined from the results obtained. Comparison of
the results is then made with those predicted by a model of an oscilla
ting composite structure cantilever beam. Differences between the pred
icted and the heuristic data is then examined with regard to a hypothe
sis based on the behaviour of the induced ER fluid's microscopic struc
ture.