Abstract
The flexural vibration of laminated composite beams with an electro-rheological(ER) fluid has been investigated to design a structure with maximum possible damping capacity. The equations of motion are derived for flexural vibrations of symmetrical, mu1ti-layer laminated beams. The damping radio and modal damping of the first bending mode are calculated by means of iterative complex eigensolution method. Finite element method is used for the analysis of dynamic characteristics of the laminated composite beams with an ER fluid. For the validation of modeling methodology using viscoelastic theory the predicted dynamic properties are compared to the measured ones by author's previous work. They are in good agreement. This paper addresses a design strategy of laminated composite under flexural vibrations with an ER fluid.