Analysis and active control of bending and vibration responses of the MRE multifunctional grid composite sandwich plates

This paper investigates the active control effect on the bending and vibration responses of the magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) multifunctional grid composite sandwich plates (MREMGCSPs), which consist of top and bottom carbon fibre/epoxy panels and one MRE-based grid functional core with many grid functional components (GFCs) and several grid frame beams (GFBs). First, based on the first-order shear deformation theory, the energy principle, the Ritz method, the Duhamel integral approach, etc., the solution to bending and the pulse vibration responses of such a structure under cantilever boundary condition are successfully obtained. Thereafter, to verify the current model as well as evaluate the bending and vibration resistance, a MREMGCSP structure is fabricated and measured with different measuring points and magnetic field magnitudes. Finally, the influence of critical geometric and control parameters on static and dynamic properties is discussed to summarize some practical conclusions for engineering applications. This study provides a useful model for estimating both static and dynamic behaviors of the MREMGCSPs, which can assist researchers in designing, manufacturing, and optimisation of similar multifunctional structures with MRE.