Session: VIB-13-01: Passive and Active Control of Vibration, Shock, and Noise

Paper Number: 89205

89205 - On the Effect of Nonlinear Energy Sink Damping in Seismic Vibration Attenuation 

Nonlinear Energy Sinks (NESs) have been proposed for passively reducing the amplitude of vibrations in different types of structures. This type on nonlinear  absorber has gained popularity as a vibration palliative because it has no preferred natural frequency and it can resonate with any mode of the primary structure to which it is  connected.

The main advantage of a NES over a traditional Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) lies in its capability to redistribute the vibrating
energy inside  the primary structure. This effect induces an energy transfer from the structure's low-frequency modes to its high-frequency ones where the vibrating energy  is  more easily dissipated through structural damping

Since NESs are not frequency-tuned absorbers, their main advantage over the traditional linear palliatives is their power to dissipate vibrating energy in a broader range of frequencies.  Unfortunately, NESs are energy-dependent absorbers which are characterized by energy  thresholds where effective NES designs regions can be very close to low efficiency ones. It is then frequent that even small changes in the energy levels entering the primary structure, can reduce substantially the performance of previously optimized NESs designs.

In this work it is shown that the NES energy sensibility can be substantially reduced by properly selecting the NES damping coefficient  by using a specific performance index.  A three stories shear building model subject to seismic ground excitation is used to numerically study the effect that the NES damping has on the NES robustness. 

Presenting Author: Eliot Motato University of Indianapolis

Presenting Author Biography: MS and PhD Michigan State University 2008<br/>Postdoctoral Position in Powertrain Vibration Control, Loughborough University, UK<br/>Visiting Professor, Department of civil and Mechanical Engineering, Purdue Fort Wayne (2019-2020)<br/>Assistant Professor, Annis School of Engineering, University of Indianapolis (2020 to Date)

Authors:

Eliot Motato University of Indianapolis
Fabio Guerrero Universidad del Valle