Systematic design of particle dampers for transient vertical vibrations

Abstract

A multilevel design toolchain is used for the development of particle dampers for vertical transient vibrating structures. Thereby various experimental tests and numerical models are combined. The design toolchain consists of three levels. The first level deals with the micro-mechanical behavior of single particle–particle and particle–wall impacts. The resulting coefficient of restitution is then used on the second level. Within, the second level the properties of vertical vibrated granular matters inside a container under harmonic motion are analyzed. The resulting motion modes and energy dissipation of the granular matter strongly depend on the excitation conditions, i. e. the excitation amplitude and excitation frequency. Multiple analytical formulations for the different motion modes, i. e. solid-like state and collect-and-collide motion mode, are derived to describe the energy dissipation within the particle damper. These analytical descriptions are in good agreement with numerical discrete element simulations. Finally, the third level of the design toolchain deals with designing a damper for a desired structure. The analytical formulations describing the energy dissipation within the particle damper are used to optimize a particle damper configuration for a simple beam-like structure undergoing a vertical transient vibration. The efficiency of the optimized particle damper dissipation is proven experimentally.