Viscoelastic damping layer optimization using a biomimetic approach: an experimental study

The concept of using biologically inspired methods for the placement of surface damping treatments [i.e. viscoelastic material (VEM) free-layer damping] has recently been explored by the authors and has been shown to provide an interesting approach to the distribution of damping on the surface of a vibrating structure. Previous work considered the evolution of a VEM layer; 'damping cells' (elements of viscoelastic material) were 'born' on the surface of the structure in zones of high modal strain energy. More specifically, the viscoelastic material grew in locations where the energy dissipation potential of the viscoelastic material was highest. This work extends the previous study by exploring a significantly faster procedure for evaluating the damping layer distribution which utilises the modal strain energy (MSE) method. An experimental study, involving the actual construction of the predicted VEM layer distributions on a model cantilever, was also carried out to evaluate the accuracy of the predictions.