Dynamic modeling and shape control of a flexible plate containing electrorheological fluids

This paper provides dynamic modeling and shape control of a flexible plate containing an electro-rheological (ER) fluid between two elastic face layers. Firstly, a rotary oscillation test is conducted to obtain complex shear modulus of the employed starch-based ER fluid itself as a function of applied electric fields and excitation frequencies as well. A dynamic model of the plate structure is then developed by incorporating the measured modulus. Field-dependent vibration characteristics for a rectangular ER fluid-based plate with two simply-supported edges are evaluated through a finite element approach. Simulation results indicate that the proposed dynamic model can be employed to predict vibration characteristics of ER fluid-based structures and that the ER fluids imbedded in the distributed parameter-systems of plate- like structures have a great deal of authority in tuning vibration characteristics of natural frequencies, mode shapes, and damping properties.