On the vibration behavior of functionally graded electrorheological sandwich beams

Dynamic behavior of adaptive sandwich beams is studied, where middle layer is electro-rheological fluid (ERF) and constraining layers are functionally graded materials (FGM). Despite various research regarding FGM or ERF composite beams, few studies are carried out on functionally graded electro-rheological (FGER) beams. To do this, finite element (FE) formulation of FGER beams is developed, and the FE model is validated by comparative studies in the literature. Due to the fact that complex shear modulus of the viscoelastic core has significant role in dynamic behavior of the beam, a dependable procedure is proposed to estimate this characteristic to ensure the reliability of the FE model for predicting the dynamic behavior of FGER beams. In this process that combines experimental and computational analysis, firstly, the complex shear modulus is roughly estimated using the ASTM E756 method. Secondly, the results are updated by means of particle swarm optimization (PSO). The optimized FE model is then utilized to investigate the effects of FGM volume fraction index, electric field and different boundary conditions on the dynamic response of adaptive sandwich beams.

► FE formulation of the functionally graded electro-rheological beams is developed.
► A new procedure is proposed to estimate complex modulus of the viscoelastic core.
► The complex modulus is roughly estimated by using the ASTM E756 standard.
► The results are updated by exploiting the particle swarm optimization method.
► The optimized FE model is then utilized to investigate the dynamic response.