Dynamic stability analysis of a rectangular orthotropic sandwich plate with an electrorheological fluid core

An investigation is carried out on the dynamic stability characteristics of an orthotropic sandwich plate with an electrorheological (ER) fluid core. The orthotropic rectangular plate is covered an electrorheological fluid core and a constraining layer to improve the stability of the system. In this study, the finite element method and the harmonic balance method are used to calculate the principal instability regions of the orthotropic sandwich plate. Numerical results are presented to study the effects of various parameters, such as thickness ratio, stiffness ratio, and applied electric field on the principal instability regions of the orthotropic sandwich plate. Rheological property of the electrorheological fluid materials, such as viscosity, plasticity, and elasticity can be changed when applying an electric field. When the electric field is applied on the sandwich structure, the damping of the system is more effective. The ER fluid core is found to have a significant effect on the location of the boundaries of the dynamic instability regions.