This study investigates the dynamic performance of the partially treated magnetorheological
elastomer tapered composite sandwich plates. Various partially treated tapered
magnetorheological elastomer laminated composite sandwich plate models are formulated
by dropping-off the plies longitudinally in top and bottom composite face layers to
yield tapered plates as the face layers. The uniform rubber and magnetorheological
elastomer materials are considered as the core layer. The governing differential equations
of motion of the various partially treated magnetorheological elastomer tapered
composite sandwich plate configurations are derived using classical laminated plate
theory and solved numerically. Further, silicon-based magnetorheological elastomer
and natural rubber are being fabricated and tested to identify the various mechanical
properties. The effectiveness of the developed finite element formulation is demonstrated
by comparing the results obtained with experimental tests and available literature.
Also, various partially treated magnetorheological elastomer tapered laminated
composite sandwich plates are considered to study the effect of location and size of
magnetorheological elastomer segments on various dynamic properties under various
boundary conditions. The effects of magnetic field on the variation of natural frequencies
and loss factors of the various partially treated magnetorheological elastomer
tapered laminated composite sandwich plate configurations are analyzed at different
boundary conditions. Also, the effect of taper angle of the top and bottom layers, aspect
ratio, ply orientations on the natural frequencies of different configurations are analysed. Further, the transverse vibration responses of three different partially treated
magnetorheological elastomer tapered laminated composite sandwich plate configurations
under harmonic excitation are analysed at various magnetic fields. This analysis
suggests that the location and size of the magnetorheological elastomer segments
strongly influence the natural frequency, loss factor and transverse displacements of
the partially treated magnetorheological elastomer tapered laminated composite sandwich
plates apart from the intensities of the applied magnetic field. This shows the
applicability of partial treatment to critical components of a large structure to achieve
a more efficient and compact vibration control mechanism with variable damping.