Controlling of Vibrations in Micro-Cantilever Beam Using a Layer of Active Electrorheological Fluid Support

摘要

The development of vibration control with smart fluids within flexible structures has been of significant interest in recent times. Although much research has been done on structures with embedded electrorheological fluids (ERF) and magnetorheological fluids (MRF), there has been a little investigation into localizing smart fluids under micro-structures. Research into the damping of micro-structures using ERF is very limited. The research in this article presented a comprehensive study into the controllability of the vibration characteristics of a micro-piezoelectric transducer with ERF support. This structure is made from piezoelectric material with a layer of ERF localized at the tip micro-cantilever beam (MCB). The structural behaviour of the MCB-ERF is alternated by applying an external electric field to activate the ERF. The MCB-ERF was tested under different electric field configurations ranging from 0kV/mm-2kV/mm. The effects of the activation of the ERF were outlined based on the results obtained. The increase in the frequency of MCB as the applied electric field to the ERF increased at 12.4 % experimentally with an electric field of 2kV/mm. The simulation and the analytical results, on the other hand, showed an increase in the frequency of the MCB from 16.2% and 13.46% respectively. The results demonstrated that the stiffness and damping structural characteristics of the MCB are controlled. This confirms the vibration controlling capabilities of MCB-ERF as structural elements.