Passive Damping Treatment Research Articles

Optimal viscoelastic properties for passive damping treatments

In the context of noise and vibration control, constrained viscoelastic materials can be used to reduce structure-borne noise of vibrating structure. This passive damping treatment finds many applications due to its robustness and low cost. While several approaches are proposed in the literature to optimise the placement of constrained viscoelastic patches, few studies has been dedicated to the optimisation of the viscoelastic material's properties. The difficulty stems from their frequency-dependency. In this work, a fractional derivative model is used to describe the complex frequency-dependent viscoelastic properties. This study illustrates the effectiveness of using surrogate modeling to predict the damping performance of viscoelastic patches. A multi-model reduction method combined with a modal parameter identification method is used to build a surrogate model at a reasonable computational cost. Once trained, this metamodel is explored to optimise the parameters of the fractional derivative model, thus allowing the design optimisation of viscoelastic properties. This approach could be extended to optimise the material properties of viscoelastic foams in the low frequency range.

Vibration prediction of rotating composite fan blades comprising viscoelastic damping treatments

To reduce the risk of fatigue problems and flutter phenomena, the structural damping of turbomachinery components is increased by integrating constrained viscoelastic patches into rotating composite blades. However, the temperature, the frequency (of the vibration mode to be damped) and the rotation speed are all parameters which may affect significantly the efficiency of the viscoelastic damping treatment.In the presented work, a numerical tool is developed to predict the structural damping of a dynamic rotating composite fan blade while varying the temperature and the rotation speed. This study is based on a finite element model of a fan disk sector equipped with constrained viscoelastic patches. This work will allow quantifying the influence of temperature and rotation speed on the efficiency of the passive damping treatment and contribute to the design of higher performing blades.

Finite element modeling and analysis of dynamic characteristics of rotating coated blisks

An effective passive damping treatment with hard coatings has been utilized to suppress the vibration of blisks in previous works. However, the previous investigations have not incorporated the rotational effects (such as Coriolis forces, stress stiffness effect, and spin softening effect). In this paper, a new finite element model is developed to model the rotating coated blisks and is validated by ANSYS. Furthermore, a reduced order model on the basis of an extended subspace iteration method is presented to analyze the rotating blisks with coatings-thickness mistuning and elastic modulus mistuning. The influences of the coatings on the forced responses of rotating tuned blisks and the rotational effects on the forced responses of coated mistuned blisks are analyzed. The results indicate that the coatings can reduce the forced responses significantly of tuned rotating blisks and the rotational effects have significant impact on dynamic characteristics of mistuned blisks.

Influence of the Poisson's ratio on the efficiency of viscoelastic damping treatments

An efficient way of mitigating noise and vibration is to embed viscoelastic patches into the host structure. Viscoelastic properties are of significant importance in determining the performance of the passive damping treatment. The behaviour of homogeneous isotropic materials is described by two elastic constants (generally the Young modulus and the Poisson ratio, or the shear and bulk moduli), which are frequency- and temperature-dependent in the case of viscoelastic materials. In practice, the Poisson's ratio is often considered as independent of temperature and frequency. One goal of this work is to numerically evaluate the validity of this assumption and its limitations (frequency range, thickness of the viscoelastic layer). To this end, a thermo-mechanical characterization of a viscoelastic material is carried out by dynamic measurements of the complex shear and bulk moduli, allowing the indirect measurement of the frequency- and temperature-dependent Poisson's ratio. Moreover, the measurements of the Poisson's ratio (direct or indirect) can lead to considerable uncertainties. For instance, large discrepancies have been observed when characterizing the Poisson's ratio of polymer foams. Another goal of this work is to investigate the influence of those uncertainties on the dynamic response of a damped structure.

Vibration and Damping Analysis of Pipeline System Based on Partially Piezoelectric Active Constrained Layer Damping Treatment.

Pipelines work in serious vibration environments caused by mechanical-based excitation, and it is thus challenging to put forward effective methods to reduce the vibration of pipelines. The common vibration control technique mainly uses the installation of dampers, constrained layer damping materials, and an optimized layout to control the vibration of pipelines. However, the passive damping treatment has little influence on the low frequency range of a pipeline system. Active control technology can obtain a remarkable damping effect. An active constrained layer damping (ACLD) system with piezoelectric materials is proposed in this paper. This paper aims to investigate the vibration and damping effect of ACLD pipeline under fixed support. The finite element method is employed to establish the motion equations of the ACLD pipeline. The effect of the thickness and elastic modulus of the viscoelastic layer, the laying position, and the coverage of ACLD patch, and the voltage of the piezoelectric material are all considered. The results show that the best damping performance can be obtained by selecting appropriate control parameters, and it can provide effective design guidance for active vibration control of a pipeline system.

Comparison of passive damping treatments based on constrained viscoelastic layers and multi-resonant piezoelectric networks.

This work aims at comparing the damping performances of two passive damping treatments based on piezoelectric or viscoelastic patches. The motivation for such a comparison stems from the fact that the two damping techniques have been developed fairly independently, and are rarely compared. First, the dynamic response of a simply-supported metallic plate is measured experimentally after being equipped with constrained viscoelastic patches or piezoelectric patches connected to an electrical network. In order to extend the comparison, a numerical model of the structure is set up and validated to evaluate the damping performances of both passive treatments under different configurations (for instance equal-mass and equal-thickness configurations). Finally, with regard to these experimental and numerical results, the advantages and the limitations in using viscoelastic or piezoelectric treatments are discussed.

An actively constrained viscoelastic layer with the inclusion of dispersed graphite particles for control of plate vibration

In this work, the damping characteristics of an actively constrained viscoelastic material layer are examined because of the inclusion of dispersed graphite particles within the viscoelastic material layer. The study is carried out by analysing the active–passive damping in a layered plate made of a substrate layer, a constrained viscoelastic particulate composite layer and a thin constraining piezoelectric actuator layer. The effective properties of the viscoelastic particulate composite are estimated using a differential scheme and the elastic–viscoelastic correspondence principle. The piezoelectric layer is activated according to the velocity feedback control law, and a closed-loop finite element model of the overall plate is derived for the analysis. The results reveal that the inclusion of graphite particles not only causes an improved transfer of active action from the piezoelectric layer to the substrate plate but also enhances the energy dissipation capability of the constrained viscoelastic layer. It is found that the maximum transfer of active action and the maximum passive damping capability of the viscoelastic particulate composite layer arise almost at the same volume fraction of inclusion. So, an optimal volume fraction of inclusion is obtained for significantly improved active–passive damping in the overall plate. The overall study presents a potential means of improved active–passive damping treatment of structural vibration.

Numerical comparisons of sandwich viscoelastic beam models1

Composite structures with elastic layers and viscoelastic core have been used as a passive damping treatment applied to reduce vibration amplitudes. In the design phase of this type of damping technique, many aspects ranging from computer modeling to laboratory tests should be considered. Due to the frequency dependency of mechanical properties of these materials, time domain based models for viscoelastic materials are not as numerous as frequency domain based methods. Usually, time domain methods introduce extra dissipation coordinates or internal variables as Golla-Hughes-McTavish (GHM) method and also Anelastic Displacement Field (ADF) method. In this paper, these methods are evaluated by comparing theirs results to the ones obtained by means of theoretical analysis. Processing time are also evaluated highlighting advantages and disadvantages of these methodologies. Finally, these two time domain methods are applied to a real structure, pointing out the facilities and difficulties to simulate an actual situation.

A nondeterministic GHM based model applied to sandwich beams

In order to obtain computational models to aid the design of viscoelastic sandwich structures used as passive damping treatment, many aspects should be considered. A crucial aspect is the incertitude inherent to experimental characterization tests of the complex modulus. Usually the computational model parameters are determined by curve fitting mean values of experimental dispersions. Considering that these dispersions are inherent to experimental tests and also those small variations in the fitted parameters lead to considerable changes on the dynamic behavior of a Viscoelastic Material (VEM), hence a nondeterministic model is more suitable than the usual deterministic ones. In that way, starting from dynamic properties of a VEM, a nondeterministic numerical model, which takes into account incertitudes in the VEM curve fitting procedure, is proposed.

Vibro-acoustics of cylindrical shells with distributed damping liners

Distributed passive damping treatments (such as cardboard liners, and foam or visco-elastic materials) are routinely placed inside the automotive drive shafts to reduce the airborne and structureborne noise over the applicable mid-frequency range. To better understand the underlying mechanism(s), experimental and analytical studies are undertaken. First, a laboratory experiment is designed to measure vibro-acoustic response functions of a thin cylindrical shell with different cardboard liner thicknesses. Second, the properties of a cardboard liner material are determined by conducting an experiment on an elastic plate treated with a cardboard liner. Third, an analytical framework for shell vibration is developed and the relative sliding motion between substructure and liner is explicitly described. The proposed model agrees well with the experiment in terms of natural frequency shifts, modal loss factors, and modal insertion losses. Several damping mechanisms such as material damping, dry friction, and interfacial viscous friction are examined. Finally, various aspects of the problem including unresolved issues will be briefly discussed.

Design of a 1-3 viscoelastic composite layer for improved free/constrained layer passive damping treatment of structural vibration

Abstract A new 1-3 viscoelastic composite material (VECM) layer is designed in order to achieve improved passive damping characteristics of the unconstrained (UCLD)/constrained (PCLD) layer damping treatment of structural vibration. The present 1-3 VECM layer is used instead of traditional monolithic viscoelastic material (VEM) layer within the UCLD/PCLD treatment. The corresponding change in damping is studied through the static as well as dynamic finite element (FE) analyses of a substrate beam integrated with the UCLD/PCLD treatment. The static analysis reveals augmentations of damping in the use of 1-3 VECM layer. The dynamic analysis quantifies improvement in the passive unconstrained/constrained layer damping through the present design.

Numerical and Experimental Study of Sound Power Reduction Performance of Acoustic Black Holes in Rectangular Plates

Global attenuation of structural velocities is one of the most effective approaches in order to reduce noise emitted by shell structures such as a car roof or aircraft fuselage panels. This global reduction can be achieved by the application of passive damping treatments like constraint layer damping on large fractions of the vibrating surface. The main disadvantage of this approach arises from the fact that it leads to increasing total cost and weight of the structure. To overcome this problem, acoustic black holes can be used to create locations with high vibration amplitudes and low bending waves velocity in order to dissipate the energy of structure borne sound by very limited application of damping treatments. Acoustic black holes are funnel shaped thickness reductions that attract sound radiating bending waves and allow a global vibration reduction by an acceptable use of additional damping. This paper presents the results of a numerical and experimental study of acoustic black holes located on a rectangular plate. The presented work is focused on the influence of size, position and number of acoustic black holes on the acoustic performance. A large number of different configurations of these parameters is studied by finite-element-analysis and evaluated in terms of vibration amplitude and sound power level. In order to confirm simulation results the most efficient configuration is implemented in laboratory setup and characterized in terms of vibrational and acoustic performance.

Damping analysis of a flexible cantilever beam containing an internal fluid channel: Experiment, modeling and analysis

Passive structural damping treatments have been applied with the use of high-viscosity fillings (in practice) and have been the focus of numerous research studies and papers. However, internal viscoelastic fluid leading to passive damping of flexible cantilever beams, has not yet been investigated in the literature. Although structures containing internal fluid channels provide multifunctional solutions to many engineering issues, they also raise damping control requests caused by unacceptable vibrations due to ambient environmental changes. In this paper, we examine ambient effects on damping properties of flexible cantilever beams, each conveying an internal high-viscosity fluid channel. Experiments are conducted to investigate how the internal fluids provide damping to the system under varied temperatures, frequencies and base-acceleration levels. While the vibration analysis of pipes conveying internal flow has been extensively studied, internal high-viscosity fluids in relation to passive damping of flexible cantilever beams and their ambient, environment-dependent behaviors have not been well-investigated. Originally motivated by research, which uses internal fluid channels to provide the cooling of multifunctional composite structures, we aim to research the damping behaviors of cantilever beams. We will conduct an experimental study and modeling analysis, examining the vibrations and frequency responses of the cantilever beams when filled with three types of internal fluids.

Dynamic properties comparisons between experimental measurements and nondeterministic numerical models of viscoelastic sandwich beams

In order to design viscoelastic sandwich structures used as passive damping treatment, many aspects should be considered. In all methods available in the literature to model Viscoelastic Materials (VEM) a crucial step is the determination of the complex modulus, usually obtained by curve fitting experimental results. Considering that dispersions are inherent to experimental tests and also those small variations in the fitted parameters lead to considerable changes on the dynamic behavior of VEMs hence a nondeterministic model seems to be more suitable than the usual deterministic ones. In that way, starting from dynamic properties of a VEM, a nondeterministic numerical model, which takes into account incertitudes in the VEM curve fitting procedure, is proposed. This model was used to evaluate the behavior of sandwich structures, showing the advantages and disadvantages of the presented methodology, comparing damping ratios and natural frequencies results of experimental tests with the ones extracted from the proposed nondeterministic numerical GHM based model, in order to establish a method to support viscoelastic sandwich beams design.

Reduction of Structural Vibrations by Passive and Semiactively Controlled Friction Dampers

Reduction of structural vibrations is of major interest in mechanical engineering for lowering sound emission of vibrating structures, improving accuracy of machines, and increasing structure durability. Besides optimization of the mechanical design or various types of passive damping treatments, active structural vibration control concepts are efficient means to reduce unwanted vibrations. In this contribution, two different semiactive control concepts for vibration reduction are proposed that adapt to the normal force of attached friction dampers. Thereby, semiactive control concepts generally possess the advantage over active control in that the closed loop is intrinsically stable and that less energy is required for the actuation than in active control. In the chosen experimental implementation, a piezoelectric stack actuator is used to apply adjustable normal forces between a structure and an attached friction damper. Simulation and experimental results of a benchmark structure with passive and semiactively controlled friction dampers are compared for stationary narrowband excitation. For simulations of the control performance, transient simulations must be employed to predict the achieved vibration damping. It is well known that transient simulation of systems with friction and normal contact requires excessive computational power due to the nonlinear constitutive laws and the high contact stiffnesses involved. However, commercial finite-element codes do not allow simulating feedback control in a general way. As a remedy, a special simulation framework is developed which allows efficiently modeling interfaces with friction and normal contact by appropriate constitutive laws which are implemented by contact elements in a finite-element model. Furthermore, special model reduction techniques using a substructuring approach are employed for faster simulation.

Passive Damping Treatment on Aircraft's Non-Flush Patch Repair Scheme

The majority of aircrafts structure cracks due to fatigue are thin gage metallic structures and secondary support structures. Beside lower fatigue strength, they may also occur due to mechanical defects, especially at weak area and for areas exposed to high repetitive force such as vibration, friction, acoustic load and tensile force. Normally, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) recommended the aircraft operator to repair the crack by typical patch or doublers repair technique which is formally known as Non-Flush Patch RepairScheme. However, the crack tends to reappear and tend to be more severe. The natural frequency and damping ratio of a structure which is treated with Typical Non-Flush Patch Repair, with and without Passive Damping Treatment (PDT) are studied using impulse based technique. Experimental data are presented to demonstrate the difference of damping ratio (ζ) among the test specimens. The cracked structure which has been treated with PDT on Non-Flush Repair Scheme has a better damping ratio and resonates at a different natural frequency. The experiment data generated from this study can be used as a basis to further the study on aircrafts structural repair scheme.

Optimisation of damping treatments based on big bang–big crunch and modal strain energy methods

A cost-effective methodology is needed in various applications in order to optimise damping treatments for structures. Although some methods appear to be applicable for structures with relatively simple geometries, it is still difficult to utilise them for general structures. This paper presents an efficient approach for optimisation of passive damping treatments that can be applied to general structures. First, an optimisation procedure based on big bang–big crunch optimisation method is introduced and its effectiveness for damping optimisation is evaluated. Then, a procedure based on modal strain energy method is presented for the prediction of modal damping levels for structures with damping treatments and its performance is assessed. After that, for validation purposes, the proposed optimisation methodology is used to maximise modal damping for a single mode of a structure whose optimised configurations are known for the individual modes. Finally, the performance of the proposed optimisation procedure is demonstrated for the maximisation of damping levels for multiple modes at the same time and the applicability of the approach for general structures with passive damping treatments is demonstrated. • An optimisation procedure based on Big Bang–Big Crunch algorithm is presented. • Modal strain energy method is used for damping prediction. • The performance of the damping prediction method is assessed. • The applicability of optimisation procedure for general structures is demonstrated.

Kinetic Analysis of a Cylindrical Shell Partially Treated with Constrained Layer Damping

This paper presents a transfer function method for a cylindrical shell with a partially passive constrained layer damping (PCLD) treatment. A thin shell theory based on Donnell-Mushtari-Vlasov assumption is employed to yield a mathematical model. The equation of motion and boundary conditions of a cylindrical shell with partially PCLD are derived. The paper provides theory supports for PCLD structure’s engineering applications in submarine weapon field.

Predicting the Sound Transmission Loss of Honeycomb Panels using the Wave Propagation Approach

The sound transmission properties of sandwich panels can be predicted with sufficient degree of accuracy by calculating the wave propagation properties of the structure. This method works well for sandwich panels with isotropic cores but applications to panels with anisotropic cores are hard to find. Honeycomb is an example of anisotropic material which when used as a core, results in a sandwich panel with anisotropic properties. In this paper, honeycomb panels are treated as being orthotropic and the wavenumbers are calculated for the two principle directions. These calculated wavenumbers are validated with the measured wavenumbers estimated from the resonance frequencies of freely hanging honeycomb beams. A combination of wave propagation and standard orthotropic plate theory is used to predict the sound transmission loss of honeycomb panels. These predictions are validated through sound transmission measurements. Passive damping treatment is a common way to reduce structural vibration and sound radiation, but they often have little effect on sound transmission. Visco-elastic damping with a constraining layer is applied to two honeycomb panels with standard and enhanced fluid coupling properties. This enhanced fluid coupling in one of the test panels is due to an extended coincidence range observed from the dispersion curves. The influence of damping treatments on the sound transmission loss of these panels is investigated. Results show that, after the damping treatment, the sound transmission loss of an acoustically bad panel and a normal panel are very similar.

A Gneralized Frequency-Temperature Viscoelastic Model

The design of passive damping treatments using viscoelastic materials requires both an accurate numerical analysis approach, usually making use of the finite element method, and a realistic means of material description. While the former has been widely studied and several and valuable approaches have become available during the last years, the latter is still an issue requiring additional efforts. The experimental characterization, the data modeling and finally the constitutive models able to be directly used along analytic and numerical analysis, are still important research areas. Several viscoelastic models, able to be directly applied into a finite element analysis either in a time or in a frequency domain analysis, are available and have been widely used during the last years in most of the published work. Despite the general description and straightforward use that such modeling approaches may provide, temperature effect is usually disregarded and isothermal analysis are usually performed. Moreover, this temperature effect is naturally not directly considered as an input parameter for most of the viscoelastic material models and isothermal conditions are also considered in the experimental characterization data analysis. This work presents an extended viscoelastic model, based on well known isothermal models, where the temperature-frequency superposition effect is directly considered. The extended model is applied to the analysis of the experimental data using a data fitting procedure to identify a set of global parameters able to represent the effect of the frequency and the temperature.