Session: ASME Undergraduate Student Design Expo

Paper Number: 175551

Acoustic Characterization of Vibration Damping of Particle Dampers 

Particle damping is a promising vibration-damping technology that has the potential to enable vibration damping in high-performance applications such as aerospace, robotics, and precision manufacturing. Particle dampers (PDs) consist of a cavity filled with particles that dissipate vibrational energy through particle-particle and particle-wall collisions, as well as friction. However, designing PDs is challenging because particle damping is a highly nonlinear phenomenon, and the unpredictable nature of particle collisions makes it difficult to characterize their vibration-damping capability. Various analytical, computational, and numerical methods have been used to assess the vibration-damping capabilities of PDs, albeit with limited success. Analytical techniques are typically restricted to modeling single-degree-of-freedom systems and often rely on simplifying assumptions, such as treating the particles as a lumped mass, neglecting internal friction, and ignoring the added mass of the damper. Computational approaches, including computational fluid dynamics and discrete element methods, are computationally intensive and can only analyze one geometry at a time. The lack of robust, physics-based design tools has led to the significant underutilization of this promising vibration-damping technology. This paper addresses this challenge by developing an experimental design methodology that leverages the high-fidelity acoustic signature of particle collisions within a PD to assess its vibration-damping performance. We hypothesize that the characteristics of the rattling sound emitted by a PD can accurately capture the vibration-damping effects of the collisions and friction occurring inside the damper. To test this hypothesis, a PD cavity is first 3D-printed using Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) and filled with steel particles. The PD is then excited using a chirp signal ranging from 0 to 2000 Hz, causing the steel particles inside to move and generate a rattling sound. This sound signature is recorded using a surface microphone. The vibration-damping capability of the PD is then evaluated by measuring the resonant frequencies of a cantilevered aluminum beam with and without the PD attached. The recorded audio characteristics from the standalone PD tests are then correlated with its vibration-damping performance in the beam-PD assembly. This testing procedure is applied to nine different PD configurations, varying three particle sizes and three infill densities. The acoustic characteristics of each configuration are analyzed and correlated with their respective vibration-damping performance. The experimental results presented in this paper provide evidence of a strong correlation between acoustic characteristics and vibration-damping, demonstrating the effectiveness of this PD design methodology. This simplified design methodology will enable prolific application of PDs as vibration-damping treatments for mechanical structures in high-performance applications.

Presenting Author: Samuel Mitchell University of Wyoming

Presenting Author Biography: Sam Mitchell is an undergraduate student studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming. He is a member of the Formula Hybrid motorsports team at the University of Wyoming as well as a member of the Wyoming Alpha chapter of Tau Beta Pi. He is currently working as an undergraduate research assistant with research interests in adaptive structures, aerospace, and high-frequency vibration analysis.

Authors:

Samuel Mitchell University of Wyoming