Investigating the Effect of Complex Particle Shapes in Partially Liquid‐Filled Particle Dampers using Coupled DEM‐SPH Methods

Abstract

AbstractThe process of energy dissipation in particle dampers (PDs) occurs mainly due to relative motion between solid particles within the damper container. The degree of relative motion between solid particles is especially sensitive to vibration amplitude changes. As the vibration amplitude decreases, less relative motion between solid particles is observed, leading to a drastic decrease in the damping performance of PDs. In this work a new approach is investigated, in which the damper contains a combination of both solid and liquid fillings, to overcome the shortcomings of a conventional PD. In order to better understand the underlying energy dissipation mechanisms a simulation model of a partially liquid‐filled particle damper with complex non‐convex shapes is set up. The liquid motion is modeled using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to model the motion of solid particles. A numerical experiment is set up, where a particle damper is attached to a one degree of freedom spring‐mass‐damper system. By analysing the free response behavior of this system, the energy dissipated in various PD configurations is compared. Simulation results show more relative motion, hence more energy dissipation, in the liquid‐filled PD case than in the purely solid filled and purely liquid PD case, especially under low vibration amplitudes. Moreover, numerical studies were performed using a coupled SPH‐DEM approach to study the effect of the particle shape on the energy dissipation in liquid‐filled particle dampers.