Dynamical mechanical characterization of a nanostructured vibration damping layer

Abstract

A vibration damping layer can dissipate relatively large amounts of energy. A known effect of this dissipation of energy is the reduction of the response of a structure to sound and vibration excitation and the reduction of the transmission of sound through structures at high frequencies. Added damping also increases the impedances of structures at their resonances and thus may improve the effectiveness of vibration isolation at these resonances. It has been observed that the molecular behavior of new nanomaterial composites may have significant influence on their shock and vibration insulation properties. Dynamical mechanical characterization of these nanostructured materials is important for determining the potential application as a viscoelastic vibration damping layer. In this work, inclusion of several nanostructures to thermostable polyurethane has been made and their main elastic properties have been measured using current standard methods. It is observed that specific amounts of nanostructures can improve the impact damping capabilities of the material, with the advantage of reduced thickness and weight as compared to traditional materials.