Vibration attenuation in vibrating systems using constrained viscoelastic layers: Finite element modelling and experimental assessment

Resumo

The use of viscoelastic materials has been regarded as an interesting means of achieving effective vibration mitigation in various types of vehicles, machines and structures at a relatively low cost. More recently, considerable effort has been devoted to the development of modelling procedures of structures containing viscoelastic elements taking into account the typical dependence of the mechanical characteristics of viscoelastic materials with respect to frequency and temperature. As a result, to date, it is possible to perform numerical predictions of complicated viscoelastic structural systems. Such high-fidelity models can thus be used in the early phases of design (especially for optimization) of viscoelastic dampers as applied to structures of industrial interest. In this paper, the performance of passive constrained viscoelastic layers, as applied to vibration attenuation of plate-like structures with potential application to refrigeration systems is evaluated both numerically and experimentally to demonstrate the utility of proposed methodology to reduce vibration amplitudes. © IMechE 2007.