Vibration characteristics of electrorheological elastomer sandwich beams

The vibration characteristics and control capabilities of a cantilever sandwich beam with electrorheological (ER) elastomers subjected to different electric fields are investigated in this study. Considering ER elastomers as viscoelastic damping materials with electrically controllable properties, a finite element model of a sandwich beam with an ER elastomer core is developed to predict the vibration responses of the proposed beam. An experimental analysis was also conducted to illustrate and evaluate the effects of an electric field on the frequency responses and natural frequencies of the sandwich beam. The results show that natural frequencies of the ER elastomer sandwich beam increase and vibration amplitudes at natural frequencies of the ER elastomer beam decrease, as the strength of the applied electric field increases. It is demonstrated that the vibration characteristics of ER elastomer beams are similar to those of ER fluid beams, which could be controlled by changing the strength of the applied electric field. This controllable characteristic of ER elastomer beams is useful for applications in engineering structures where variable performance is desired.