Recent developments in semi-active control of magnetorheological materials-based sandwich structures: A review

Abstract

Magnetorheological (MR) materials are kinds of smart materials whose rheological characteristics are controllable with the application of external magnetic fields. In the last few decades, MR materials are well established as one of the leading smart materials for use in adaptive sandwich structures and systems for salient vibration control. This article reviews the semi-active vibration suppression of flexible structures with smart materials of MR fluids (MRFs) and MR elastomers (MREs). Stiffness and damping characteristics of beams, plates, panels, and shells integrating the core layer of MRFs and MREs are discussed in terms of field-dependent controllability. To keep the integrity of the knowledge, this review includes a study on free and forced vibration characteristics of sandwich structures with fully and various configurations of partial MR treatments, stability analysis of MR sandwich structures under rotating conditions and developments in identifying the optimal locations of MR sandwich structures for better vibration control are also discussed. Further, this article focuses on the role of carbon nanotubes in enhancing the field-dependent stiffness and damping properties of MR materials. A few of the most relevant research articles are reviewed and presented here briefly.