Optimal layout of a partially treated laminated composite magnetorheological fluid sandwich plate

In this study, the optimal location of the MR fluid segments in a partially treated laminated composite sandwich plate has been identified to maximize the natural frequencies and the loss factors. The finite element formulation is used to derive the governing differential equations of motion for a partially treated laminated composite sandwich plate embedded with MR fluid and rubber material as the core layer and laminated composite plate as the face layers. An optimization problem is formulated and solved by combining finite element analysis (FEA) and genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain the optimal locations to yield maximum natural frequency and loss factor corresponding to first five modes of flexural vibration of the sandwich plate with various combinations of weighting factors under various boundary conditions. The proposed methodology is validated by comparing the natural frequencies evaluated at optimal locations of MR fluid pockets identified through GA coupled with FEA and the experimental measurements. The converged results suggest that the optimal location of MR fluid pockets is strongly influenced not only by the boundary conditions and modes of vibrations but also by the objectives of maximization of natural frequency and loss factors either individually or combined. The optimal layout could be useful to apply the MR fluid pockets at critical components of large structure to realize more efficient and compact vibration control mechanism with variable damping.