Damping Analysis of Cylindrical Composite Structures with Enhanced Viscoelastic Properties

Dynamic responses of flexible linkage mechanisms with viscoelastic constrained layer damping treatment

This report is about response analysis using Statistical Energy Analysis (SEA) with FEM for two panels connected in L-type shape. We adopt two panels with viscoelastic damping layers and the panel connected in L-type shape as substructures. One of the panels has a curved surface and the other panel is flat. There are viscoelastic layers on the panels. Usually, modal damping is influenced by shape of panels and forms of the connection. Therefore, to consider coupling in damping between substructures, we use FEM and MSE (Modal Strain Energy) method to identify Internal Loss Factors (ILF). We get the Coupling Loss Factors (CLF) using the Element Energy and ILF. For us to verify whether a numerical value of the proposed method is right, we compare the results from this method and those from direct FEM. As a result, we show that this method is able to get SEA parameters (ILF and CLF) of the high precision for the damped panel having curved surface. This method shows that the precision of the response calculation in the low frequency range as well as in the high frequency range could be improved.

Bending vibration of flat plates is controlled using patches of active constrained layer damping (ACLD) treatments. Each ACLD patch consists of a visco-elastic damping layer which is sandwiched between two piezo-electric layers. The first layer is directly bonded to the plate to sense its vibration and the second layer acts as an actuator to actively control the shear deformation of the visco-elastic damping layer according to the plate response. With such active/passive control capabilities the energy dissipation mechanism of the visco-elastic layer is enhanced and its damping characteristics of the plate vibration is improved. A finite element model is developed to analyze the dynamics and control of flat plates which are partially treated with multi-patches of ACLD treatments. The model is validated experimentally using an aluminum plate which is 0.05 cm thick, 25.0 cm long, and 12.5 cm wide. The plate is treated with two ACLD patches. Each of which is made of SOUNDCOAT (Dyad 606) visco- elastic layer sandwiched between two layers of AMP/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezo- electric films. The piezo-electric axes of the patches are set at zero degrees relative to the plate longitudinal axis to control the bending mode. The effect of the gain of a proportional control action on the system performance is presented. Comparisons between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results suggest the validity of the developed finite element model. Also, comparisons with the performance of conventional passive constrained layer damping clearly demonstrate the merits of the ACLD as an effective means for suppressing the vibration of flat plates.

This work aims to further promote the research and development of flexible damping technology for the seismic damage control of underground engineering structures. On the basis of the understanding of the application of viscoelastic damping theory to the field of earthquake resistance of bridge buildings, impact tests on different rock damping layer– concrete specimens are conducted using the improved split Hopkinson pressure bar test system to analyze the energy absorption characteristics of the viscoelastic damping layers. A comparative analysis of the test results is also performed to differentiate the laws of energy absorption of the viscoelastic damping layer structure using different damping layer materials (rubber and silicone) and different damping layer shapes (honeycomb, corrugated, and cylindrical). Given damping layers with the same material and structure, the energy absorption laws of the structures with different damping layer thicknesses are compared and analyzed. The optimal thickness of the damping layers is also discussed. Results show that the incident energy absorbed by the damping layers of different materials increases by more than 10% relative to the control group (rock–concrete specimen). Such an increase indicates that the structures have superior energy absorption characteristics and that the rubber material can absorb more incident energy than the high-damping silicone as the damping layer. As for the damping layer shapes, the composite damping layer structure with a honeycomb shape achieves the best energy absorption among all structures. The comparison and analysis of the energy absorption effects when the damping layer thicknesses are 10, 20, and 25 mm reveal that a 20 mm-thick damping layer shows the best energy absorption effect. The current findings can provide theoretical foundation and data support for the application of composite damping layers to the seismic design of underground engineering structures.

In this work, the effectiveness of a shear actuation-based hybrid active-passive damping treatment is investigated by incorporating the inclusion of graphite particles within the viscoelastic damping layer. The study is performed through the flexural vibration analysis of a sandwich plate-strip where the core is made of a laminate of active layers and graphite particle-filled viscoelastic layers in two different stacking sequences. The active layers are comprised of shear mode piezoelectric actuator patches that are activated according to a shear-based velocity feedback control strategy. The analysis is performed by deriving a closed-loop finite element model of the sandwich plate-strip, and it reveals that the hybrid damping is significantly dependent on the stacking sequence of active and passive damping layers at the core. The inclusion of graphite particles not only provides augmented passive damping but also causes enhanced transfer of shear actuation force from the active layers to other layers. As a result, a significantly improved shear actuation-based hybrid active-passive damping is achieved due to the inclusion. The effectiveness of this hybrid damping in attenuation of resonant displacement-amplitude is also presented by configuring the volume fraction of graphite particles and shear actuator patches in an optimal manner.

A vibration energy harvester harnesses the oscillatory movement and
converts it into electrical energy. On the other hand, a (dynamic) vibration absorber
dissipates the mechanical energy of a host structure (primary system). The proposal for
a harvester-absorber device (HAD), comprinsing a piezoelectric element (conventional
harvester) bonded with a viscoelastic layer and a steel constrained layer, is based on the
dual purpose of generating energy and at the same time reducing the vibratory response
of the primary system. Introducing a viscoelastic dissipative layer in a conventional
harvester, also offers the advantage of simultaneously reducing wear on the piezoelectric
element, thereby extending its lifespan and preventing fatigue-related breakage. The
paper presents a model of a harvester-absorber built from a bimorph piezoelectric
beam, a layer of viscoelastic material (E-A-R C1002-01PSA) and a beam of steel, which
acts as a constrained layer. A lumped parameter model is proposed for the theoretical
description of the HAD which is successfully used to experimentally determine its
parameters. After that, and using the equivalent stiffness concept, the HAD was
coupled to a free-free beam with two masses at its ends to study its perfomance over a
real host structure. The inertance of the composite system and voltage/force frequency
response function of the HAD were obtained and compared with experimental results.
The accuracy of the results justifies and validate the model which has the advantage
of simplicity and can contribute to reducing wear and increasing the lifespan of brittle
piezoelectric structures.

Finite element analysis of composite structures with smart constrained layer damping

DAMPING OPTIMIZATION BY INTEGRATING ENHANCED ACTIVE CONSTRAINED LAYER AND ACTIVE-PASSIVE HYBRID CONSTRAINED LAYER TREATMENTS

Active damping can be generated in a number of ways, the most obvious one being applying a force to the structure which is proportional to the velocity at a point on the structure. Another technique is to actively increase the damping of a structure by using a passive damping element i.e. dissipate the energy of vibration by increasing the relative motion of the structure with respect to the passive damping element. A practical way to achieve this is by using constrained layer damping (CLD). It is well known that CLD is effective because of the relative motion of the structure and the constraining layer which produces extra shear in a layer of viscoelastic material. The work described in this paper is concerned with controlling the strain of the constraining layer of a composite structure in such a way as to enhance the shear generated in the viscoelastic material and hence improve the overall damping of the composite structure. If the control law selected forces the constraining layer to move 180 degrees out of phase with the structure then the viscoelastic damping layer undergoes maximum shear and active damping is achieved. The results have indicated that this concept of active damping produces very effective levels of vibration suppression. In the case of cantilever beams the first two modes can be almost eliminated when velocity feedback of the beam tip is used. The results show that the addition of active control and passive damping in a single structure combines the advantages of passive damping in the higher modes and active control in the lower modes. In addition active damping as defined in this paper produces a fail safe mechanism in case of instability occurring in the feedback system since passive damping is always present.

Active constrained layer damping treatments promise to be an effective means of vibration suppression in structures. Basically, the concept consists in either replacing or augmenting the constraining layer of a constrained viscoelastic material with piezoceramic actuators in an attempt to improve vibration suppression properties by capitalizing on both passive and active damping techniques. An important issue in such configurations is the concept that the actuation ability of the piezoceramic is reduced by the viscoelastic layer, rather than enhanced. On the other hand, an active constraining layer increases the shear in the viscoelastic and thus forms an effective means of enhancing the damping mechanism. Some design considerations for pure passive, pure active control, and active constrained layer damping are discussed here. Several authors have reported comparisons and formulations of active constrained layer damping techniques. The approach presented here differs in that it employs an energy principle for the equations of a beam with partial active/passive constrained layer damping treatments. To simulate a realistic design problem, the optimal sizing, length, and thickness of treatments subject to a total thickness restriction is studied for cases of active constrained layer, passive constrained layer, and pure active control. The results show that the active constrained layer damping treatment provides better vibration suppression than passive damping treatments, and it even out-performs pure active control for low-gain applications.

This paper describes the formulation of a theory for the prediction of damping and natural frequencies of laminated composite beams with multiple viscoelastic damping layers. The damping layers are constrained (or sandwiched) by anisotropic laminates. The in-plane shear strains of the damping layers and the constraining layers are included in the model. Closed-form solutions for the resonance frequencies and modal loss factors of the composite beam system under simple supports are derived using the energy and Ritz method. A parametric study has been conducted to study the variation of dynamic stiffness and modal loss factor of the system with structural parameters (e.g., the ply orientations of laminas, thickness of the damping layers and the laminates), operating temperature, and damping material properties. The design of composite beams for maximizing the damping capacity is also presented in this paper which includes the determination of operating temperature range corresponding to given structural parameters and finding optimal structural parameters corresponding to given temperature range. Finally, some experimental results are compared with theory for the cases of single and double damping layer beam systems that show good agreement between predicted and measured natural frequencies. © 1993 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., All rights reserved.

Active Vibration Control of Beam Using Electro-magnetic Constrained Layer Damping

Active vibration control of thin-plate structures with partial SCLD treatment

For many years a high-powered damping material has been requested for use in various industrial products. Viscoelastic, composite or sandwich materials have been developed and used only to be revealed as insufficient below 200 Hz. This paper introduces a lightweight, low-priced, and high-powered viscoelastic damping layer, in which varisized masses are distributed to compose dynamic dampers. The dynamic spring constant of the damper depends on d/h : d is the diameter of the mass and h is the height of the layer underneath the mass. The experiment manifests remarkable effects of the damping layer : only four or six masses are enough for the layer of 0.5 m×0.5 m size, the masses have exclusive effects for their respective natural frequencies, and the masses distributed regularly can be sufficient. The analysis of the FEM model with damping masses proves approximately the same effect as the experiment.

The acoustic black hole (ABH) has been developed in recent years as an effective, passive, and lightweight method for attenuating bending wave vibrations in beams and plates and reducing the sound radiation and structural-acoustic response of structures. The ABH effect utilizes a local change in the plate or beam thickness to reduce the bending wave speed and increase the transverse vibration amplitude. Attaching a viscoelastic damping layer to the ABH results in effective energy dissipation and vibration reduction. Surface-averaged mobility and radiated sound power measurements were performed on an aluminum plate containing an array of 20 two-dimensional ABHs with damping layers and compared to a similar uniform plate. Detailed laser vibrometer scans of an ABH cell (including the ABH and surrounding homogeneous plate) were also performed to analyze the vibratory characteristics of individual ABH cells and compared with mode shapes calculated using finite elements. The results showed that the surface-averaged mobility was reduced by up to 14 dB for the fully damped ABH plate compared to a uniform reference plate while also reducing the mass of the plate. The results demonstrated that the dynamics of plates with embedded ABHs can be characterized by low, mid, and high frequency ranges, with low-order local ABH modes contributing significantly to low frequency ABH performance. The effects of damping layer thickness and diameter were also investigated to assess ABH performance optimization. It was shown that the damping layer can have the added benefit of mass loading the ABH and enhancing low frequency performance. The results will be useful for designing the low frequency performance of future ABH systems and describing ABH performance in terms of design parameters.