PRESSURE OPTIMISED VISCOELASTIC VIBRATION AND IMPACT INSULATION

Within this contribution we present recently published findings [1] on the new way of utilizing polymeric materials for vibration damping. We present and demonstrate patented dissipative bulk and granular systems technology [2], based on which we have developed granular damping elements (GDE). The damping elements consist of granular viscoelastic material encapsulated and pressurized within a woven container made of basalt, carbon, and/or glass fibres. The hydrostatic pressure changes material properties and consequently the performance of the vibration isolation. Within this contribution, properties of three TPU materials in solid state are investigated, which after granulation are potential candidates for producing new GDE damping elements. We have demonstrated that for the case of TPU materials the stiffness and energy absorption capability of insulation may be increased between 10 to 100 times.

Investigation of Granular Damping in Transient Vibrations Using Hilbert Transform Based Technique

Granular damping results from a combination of energy dissipation mechanisms including the impact and the friction between the vibrating structure and granules and among the granules. Although simple in concept, granular damping is very complicated and its performance depends on a number of factors, such as vibration level, granular material properties, packing ratio, etc. In this study, free vibration experiments are conducted on a cantilevered beam incorporated with granular damping. A signal analysis approach based on the Hilbert transform (HT) is then employed to identify the nonlinear damping characteristics from the acquired responses, such as the dependency of the natural frequency and damping ratio on the vibration level. This HT based analysis can produce an effective temporal-frequency amplitude∕energy analysis, which provides us with physical insights of the nonlinear transient response. A direct comparison between the granular damping and the impact damping (with single impactor to dissipate vibratory energy) is performed to highlight the difference between these two and the advantages of granular damping. Finally, the validity of the proposed approach is also examined by the successful prediction of vibration response using the extracted granular damping characteristics.

Analysis of Granular Damping Using Hilbert Transform Based Technique

Granular damping results from a combination of energy dissipation mechanisms including the impact and the friction between the vibrating structure and granules and among the granules. Although simple in concept, granular damping is very complicated and its performance depends on a number of factors, such as vibration level, granular material properties, and packing ratio, etc. In this study, free vibration tests are conducted on a cantilevered beam incorporated with granular damping. A signal analysis approach based on the Hilbert transform (HT) is then employed to identify the nonlinear damping characteristics from the acquired responses, such as the dependency of the natural frequency and damping ratio on vibration level. This HT based analysis can produce an accurate temporal-frequency amplitude/energy analysis which provides us with physical insights of the nonlinear transient response. A direct comparison between the granular damping and the impact damping (with single impactor to dissipate vibratory energy) is performed to highlight the difference between these two as well as the advantages of granular damping. Finally, validity of the proposed approach is also examined by the successful prediction of vibration response using the extracted granular damping characteristics.

A Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Approach for the Analysis of Granular Damping

Granular damping, which possesses promising features for vibration suppression in harsh environments such as in turbo-machinery and spacecraft, has been studied using empirical analysis and more recently using the discrete element method (DEM). The mechanism of granular damping is nonlinear and, when numerical analyses are employed, usually a relatively long simulation time of structural vibration is needed to reflect the damping behavior. The present research explores the granular damping analysis by means of the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) approach. Unlike the DEM that tracks the motion of granules based upon the direct numerical integration of Newton’s equations, the DSMC is a statistical method derived from the Boltzmann equation to describe the velocity evolution of the granular system. Since the exact time and locations of contacts among granules are not calculated in the DSMC, a significant reduction in computational time/cost can be achieved. While the DSMC has been exercised in a variety of gas/granular systems, its implementation to granular damping analysis poses unique challenges. In this research, we develop a new method that enables the coupled analysis of the stochastic granular motion and the structural vibration. The complicated energy transfer and dissipation due to the collisions between the granules and the host structure and among the granules is directly analyzed, which is essential to damping evaluation. Also, the effects of granular packing ratio and the excluded volume of granules, which may not be considered in the conventional DSMC approach, are explicitly incorporated in the analysis. A series of numerical studies are performed to highlight the accuracy and efficiency of the new approach.