Vibration Control of Beams with Embedded Smart Composite Material

With an external electrical stimulus, a method of controlling the elastic/viscoelastic behavior of a cantilever beam embedded with a bulk viscoelastic material having ``smart' properties, is addressed. The test smart material used is constituted of a heteorogeneous mixture of barium titanate and ferrite (in powder forms) dispersed in a sol-gel phase of polyacrylamide with a specific aqueous content. The barium titanate content possesses the piezoelectric property that enables the material to exhibit electroelastic characteristics. The test beam made of plexiglass material keeps the smart material constrained in its core along its axis. When subjected to transient and static load conditions, and electrically stimulating the embedded smart material, the free-vibration damping characteristics of the test beam are elucidated. It is shown that the measured response of the cantilever beam excited to vibrate in its first natural mode can be controlled with the application of the voltage stimulation. Relevant experimental data are furnished.