Vibration suppression of composite plates using smart electrorheological dampers

• Vibration of the shear deformable composite plate with a smart ER damper is presented.
• The finite element model of the smart laminated composite plate and external ER damper is derived.
• The Bingham plastic model is used to model the post yield behavior of the ER fluid.
• The ER damper and laminate parameters have a significant effect on vibration suppression.

The objective of the present study is to enlighten the influence of external electrorheological (ER) dampers on the dynamic behavior of composite laminated plates. Short time response along with electric field depended rheological behavior of ER fluids make these materials attractive for active vibration control of structures. To demonstrate the effect of ER damper on dynamic response of the composite plate, the finite element formulation based on the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) is obtained for laminated plates. Moreover, the Bingham plastic model, which presents the post-yield behavior of the ER material, is used to model the ER fluid. Several numerical results are presented and effects of imperative parameters are discussed. It is shown that parameters such as applied voltage, controlled electric field, radius and initial gap of the electrodes, position of the ER damper and the stacking sequences of the composite plate have considerable effect on the vibration suppression time of the plate.