Analysis of increased damping in arrays of attached resonators

Abstract

Research has shown that arrays of small dynamic attachments on a larger, primary structure can be tuned to significantly alter the time and frequency response of the system. Such attachments can be used to increase the apparent damping of a primary structure by transferring energy into the substructure and dissipating the energy there. By selecting the properties of the attachments to obtain specific distributions of element mass and mode frequency, the response of the primary structure can be altered to obtain specific spectral outcomes. Unfortunately, small errors in the distributions of mass and stiffness of the individual attachments have been shown to produce a significant degradation of intended performance. Until recently, metals were the practical option that was easily manufactured to the tolerances required. New three-dimensional-printing advancements have made plastics available with sufficient tolerances. A serendipitous discovery was that the increased damping shown in the plastics decreased the system’s sensitivity to error. Previous analysis assumed low damping in the attached resonators. This work will show analysis with moderate to high damping levels for the attachments. Here, we will show experimental results using different plastic materials with moderate dimensional error.

Sai Tej Paruchuri

Postdoctoral Research Associate in Plasma Control

My research interests include plasma control, dynamics and controls, vibrations and adaptive structures, data-driven modeling.