Linear and nonlinear vibrations analysis of viscoelastic sandwich beams

In this paper, numerical models are proposed for linear and nonlinear vibrations analyses of viscoelastic sandwich beams with various viscoelastic frequency dependent laws using the finite element based solution. Real and various complex eigenmodes approaches are investigated as Galerkin bases. Based on harmonic balance method, simplified and general approaches are developed for nonlinear vibration analysis. Analytical frequency-amplitude and phase-amplitude relationships are elaborated based on the numerically computed complex eigenmodes. The equivalent loss factors and frequencies as well as the forced harmonic response and phase curves are performed for sandwich beams with various boundary conditions and frequency dependent viscoelastic laws.     

More on finite element modeling of damped composite systems

Finite element procedures are developed and verified for layered beams and rings having either continuously or discontinuously constrained viscoelastic damping layers. The two configurations considered are (1) a three-layered sandwich beam or ring (closed curved beam) consisting of two thin elastic layers with a viscoelastic core in between, and (2) a damped composite made of a thin-walled elastic structure having a finite number of mass segments or elastic segments adhered to it by a viscoelastic material. Viscoelastic material dependence on frequency and temperature is accounted for. Numerical predictions of transverse driving point impedances agree very well with available experimental data.     

Non-linear vibrations of three-layer beams with viscoelastic cores,II: Experiment

Experimental results are presented for large amplitude, forced motion of damped, three-layer beams. The beams are constructed with a viscoelastic material constrained between stiff, elastic, outer layers. The sandwich beam is axially restrained; therefore large amplitude displacements cause non-linear response. When the beam is forced at one-half of the lateral vibration resonant frequency, superharmonic response occurs. The experiment is briefly described and frequency response characteristics, spatial shapes and a measure of superharmonic response are presented. The results are compared with predictions from a previously developed theory.     

A finite element analysis of the harmonic response of damped three-layer plates

Solutions have been obtained for the vibration response under harmonic excitation of three-layer plates with a constrained viscoelastic layer (e.g., plates with two metallic outer layers and a viscoelastic core) by means of a finite element method. Damping has been introduced by replacing the real modulus of the viscoelastic material by a complex equivalent which accounts for the phase difference between strain and stress. Triangular finite elements were used with different numbers of degrees of freedom and the dynamic stiffness of the overall structure was calculated. The present method allows for the nonlinear stress-strain behaviour of the viscoelastic material, the effects of the rotatory inertia and the extension within the viscoelastic core. In addition, the use of triangular elements allows for a great variety of shapes and boundary conditions. The finite element computation has been verified by comparison with experimental results for circular three-layer plates and for sandwich beams.     

A damping mechanics model and a beam finite element for the free-vibration of laminated composite strips under in-plane loading

A theoretical framework is presented for predicting the nonlinear damping and damped vibration of laminated composite strips due to large in-plane forces. Nonlinear Green-Lagrange axial strains are introduced in the governing equations of a viscoelastic composite and new nonlinear damping and stiffness matrices are formulated including initial stress effects. Building upon the nonlinear laminate mechanics, a damped beam finite element is developed. Finite element stiffness and damping matrices are synthesized and the static equilibrium is predicted using a Newton-Raphson solver. The corresponding linearized damped free-vibration response is predicted and modal frequencies and damping of the in-plane deflected strip are calculated. Numerical results quantify the nonlinear effect of in-plane loads on structural modal damping of various laminated composite strips. The modal loss-factors and natural frequencies of cross-ply Glass/Epoxy beams subject to in-plane loading are measured and correlated with numerical results.     

Spectral finite element based on an efficient layerwise theory for wave propagation analysis of composite and sandwich beams

In this paper, we present a spectral finite element model (SFEM) using an efficient and accurate layerwise (zigzag) theory, which is applicable for wave propagation analysis of highly inhomogeneous laminated composite and sandwich beams. The theory assumes a layerwise linear variation superimposed with a global third-order variation across the thickness for the axial displacement. The conditions of zero transverse shear stress at the top and bottom and its continuity at the layer interfaces are subsequently enforced to make the number of primary unknowns independent of the number of layers, thereby making the theory as efficient as the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The spectral element developed is validated by comparing the present results with those available in the literature. A comparison of the natural frequencies of simply supported composite and sandwich beams obtained by the present spectral element with the exact two-dimensional elasticity and FSDT solutions reveals that the FSDT yields highly inaccurate results for the inhomogeneous sandwich beams and thick composite beams, whereas the present element based on the zigzag theory agrees very well with the exact elasticity solution for both thick and thin, composite and sandwich beams. A significant deviation in the dispersion relations obtained using the accurate zigzag theory and the FSDT is also observed for composite beams at high frequencies. It is shown that the pure shear rotation mode remains always evanescent, contrary to what has been reported earlier. The SFEM is subsequently used to study wavenumber dispersion, free vibration and wave propagation time history in soft-core sandwich beams with composite faces for the first time in the literature.     

Transverse vibrations of pre-twisted sandwich beams

A set of equations of motion governing the bending and extensional displacements of a pre-twisted sandwich beam of rectangular cross-section are derived by using Hamilton's principle. The middle viscoelastic core is assumed to deform mainly through the classical shearing mechanism. The eigenvalues and loss factors of simply supported pre-twisted sandwich beams are computed by using the variational method. Analysis of the results revealed that pre-twisting the beam increases the real part of the eigenvalue by as much as 20% while reducing the loss factor by as much as 30 %. The loss factor of very soft, thickcored beams is especially sensitive to even small angles of pre-twist: e.g., a 22· 5° pre-twist may reduce the loss factor by as much as 80%. The effect of pre-twist is, however, shown not to be appreciable for soft, thin-cored beams. In any case, pre-twisting of the beam has a detrimental effect on the maximum loss factor that one can obtain for a specific size of the beam when only the shear parameter of the beam is changed.     

Effects of thickness and delamination on the damping in honeycomb-foam sandwich beams

In engineering applications where the use of lightweight structures is important, the introduction of a viscoelastic core layer, which has high inherent damping, between two face sheets, can produce a sandwich structure with high damping. Sandwich structures have the additional advantage that their strength to weight ratios are generally superior to those of solid metals. So, sandwich structures are being used increasingly in transportation vehicles. Knowledge of the passive damping of sandwich structures and attempts to improve their damping at the design stage thus are important. Some theoretical models for passive damping in composite sandwich structures are reviewed in this paper. The effects of the thickness of the core and face sheets, and delamination on damping are analyzed. Measurements on honeycomb-foam sandwich beams with different configurations and thicknesses have been performed and the results compared with the theoretical predictions.     

PREDICTION AND MEASUREMENT OF SOME DYNAMIC PROPERTIES OF SANDWICH STRUCTURES WITH HONEYCOMB AND FOAM CORES

Some dynamical properties of sandwich beams and plates are discussed. The types of elements investigated are three-layered structures with lightweight honeycomb or foam cores with thin laminates bonded to each side of the core. A six order differential equation governing the apparent bending of sandwich beams is derived using Hamilton's principle. Bending, shear and rotation are considered. Boundary conditions for free, clamped and simply supported beams are formulated. The apparent bending stiffness of sandwich beams is found to depend on the frequency and the boundary conditions for the structure. Simple measurements on sandwich beams are used to determine the bending stiffness of the entire structure and at the same time the bending stiffness of the laminates as well as the shear stiffness of the core. A method for the prediction of eigenfrequencies and modes of vibration are presented. Eigenfrequencies for rectangular and orthotropic sandwich plates are calculated using the Rayleigh-Ritz technique assuming frequency dependent material parameters. Predicted and measured results are compared.     

Nonlinear response of shear deformable beams on tensionless nonlinear viscoelastic foundation under moving loads

In this paper, a boundary element method is developed for the geometrically nonlinear response of shear deformable beams of simply or multiply connected constant cross-section, traversed by moving loads, resting on tensionless nonlinear three-parameter viscoelastic foundation, undergoing moderate large deflections under general boundary conditions. The beam is subjected to the combined action of arbitrarily distributed or concentrated transverse moving loading as well as to axial loading. To account for shear deformations, the concept of shear deformation coefficients is used. Three boundary value problems are formulated with respect to the transverse displacement, to the axial displacement and to a stress functions and solved using the Analog Equation Method, a Boundary Element based method. Application of the boundary element technique yields a system of nonlinear Differential-Algebraic Equations, which is solved using an efficient time discretization scheme, from which the transverse and axial displacements are computed. The evaluation of the shear deformation coefficient is accomplished from the aforementioned stress function using only boundary integration. Analyses are performed to illustrate, wherever possible, the accuracy of the developed method, to investigate the effects of various parameters, such as the load velocity, load frequency, shear deformation, foundation nonlinearity, damping, on the beam displacements and stress resultants and to examine how the consideration of shear and axial compression affects the response of the system.     

PARAMETRIC INSTABILITY OF MULTI-LAYERED SANDWICH BEAMS

The present work deals with the parametric instability of multi-layered symmetric sandwich beams with alternate elastic and viscoelastic layers, subjected to periodic axial load. The equations of motion and boundary conditions are derived by applying Hamilton's principle, and the general Galerkin method is utilized to convert the equations of motion into a set of coupled Hill's equations with complex coefficients in the time domain. Numerical results are obtained for beams having, three, five and seven layers. The effects of the shear and core-thickness parameters as well as the core loss factor upon the regions of parametric instability are considered. Zones of instability are obtained for the cases in which beams with various number of layers have the same weight or size or flexural rigidity. Finally, for the criteria of constant size and flexural rigidity as well as constant weight and flexural rigidity, the effects of various parameters on the stability of the system are studied.     

Dynamic analysis of magnetorheological elastomer-based sandwich beam with conductive skins under various boundary conditions

The dynamic analysis of a three-layered symmetric sandwich beam with magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) embedded viscoelastic core and conductive skins subjected to a periodic axial load have been carried out under various boundary conditions. As the skins of the sandwich beam are conductive, magnetic loads are applied to the skins during vibration. Due to the field-dependent shear modulus of MRE material, the stiffness of the MRE embedded sandwich beam can be changed by the application of magnetic fields. Using extended Hamilton’s principle along with generalized Galarkin’s method the governing equation of motion has been derived. The free vibration analysis of the system has been carried out and the results are compared with the published experimental and analytical results which are found to be in good agreement. The parametric instability regions of the sandwich beam have been determined for various boundary conditions. Here, recently developed magnetorheological elastomer based on natural rubber containing iron particles and carbon blacks have been used. The effects of magnetic field, length of MRE patch, core thickness, percentage of iron particles and carbon blacks on the regions of parametric instability for first three modes of vibration have been studied. These results have been compared with the parametric instability regions of the sandwich beam with fully viscoelastic core to show the passive and active vibration reduction of these structures using MRE and magnetic field. Also, the results are compared with those obtained using higher order theory.     

Investigation of multi-layer sandwich beams through single degree-of-freedom transformation

The dynamic behaviors of multi-layer sandwich beams are investigated through single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) transformation. The frequency response of the multi-layer sandwich beam is obtained using finite element code COMSOL and is transformed to a SDOF system with the same frequency response. Hence, the mass, spring constant and damping coefficient of the sandwich beams with different lengths and number of visco-elastic layers can be investigated. Further, viscous damping and structural damping models are individually employed to simulate the damping effect of the sandwich beam. The frequency responses from both models are compared with that from COMSOL and experiment. The resonant peak and resonant frequency of the SDOF system using structural damping model is more consistent with that from COMSOL. The experimental result demonstrates that the response of the sandwich beam can be predicted through COMSOL and SDOF transformation.     

Forced response of FRP sandwich panels with viscoelastic materials

In this paper a new analytical model is presented that accurately predicts the forced response of fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) sandwich plates subjected to transverse applied loads. It is based on Reddy's refined high order shear deformation theory and offers the feasibility of accounting for the viscoelastic properties of the constitutive materials without restriction to the steady state motion. This is achieved by modelling the viscoelastic behaviour of the constitutive materials using the Golla Hughes McTavish mathematical tool. Validation of the new approach is achieved by comparing results under harmonic loading conditions against data obtained using the proposed new analytical model. Subsequently, predicted responses for a given FRP sandwich plate under various transverse applied loads are presented. The results outline the importance of being able to account for the viscoelastic properties of the constitutive materials when modelling the dynamic behaviour of sandwich structures.     

TRANSVERSE VIBRATION OF ELASTIC-VISCOELASTIC-ELASTIC SANDWICH BEAMS: COMPRESSION-EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL STUDY

Experimental and analytical results are presented from an investigation into the compressional vibration of an elastic-viscoelastic-elastic three-layer sandwich beam. Most analytical models make the fundamental assumption that shear deformation in the viscoelastic core yields the largest damping and compressional deformation is negligible. Experimental results from a cantilever beam with a constrained layer viscoelastic damping treatment driven with a sinusoidal input are given which show compressional deformation over a relatively wide driving frequency range. A new analytical model for compressional damping is presented and compared with experimental results, with the Mead and Markus shear damping model, and with the Douglas and Yang compressional damping model. These results indicate that the proposed compressional model is a better predictor of resonance frequencies for the cantilever beams tested and that all models show deficiencies in predicting damping     

Vibration and dynamic stability of a traveling sandwich beam

The vibration and dynamic stability of a traveling sandwich beam are studied using the finite element method. The damping layer is assumed to be linear viscoelastic and almost incompressible. The extensional and shear moduli of the viscoelastic material are characterized by complex quantities. Complex-eigenvalue problems are solved by the state-space method, and the natural frequencies and modal loss factors of the composite beam are extracted. The effects of stiffness and thickness ratio of the viscoelastic and constrained layers on natural frequencies and modal loss factors are reported. Tension fluctuations are the dominant source of excitation in a traveling sandwich material, and the regions of dynamic instability are determined by modified Bolotin's method. Numerical results show that the constrained damping layer stabilizes the traveling sandwich beam.     

高斯叠代法研究相控阵非线性声场

相控阵在聚焦超声治疗应用中不可避免地受到非线性影响,提出了采用高斯叠代法计算相控阵的非线性声场。在该方法中,利用预设焦点参数并应用伪逆矩阵算法得到阵元的激励参数;然后将阵元近似拟合成一组高斯声束的叠加,通过高斯声束叠代计算非线性声场。数值计算中以64阵元一维相控阵为研究对象;线性条件下,高斯叠代法结果与菲涅耳积分结果的误差低于0.5%,验证了该方法的可行性;单焦点及双焦点模式的相控阵非线性声场结果表明非线性效应能提高焦点聚焦性能,并且非线性效应与激励声压及激励频率成正比。      

Vibration analysis and design optimization of viscoelastic sandwich cylindrical shell

Damping properties of viscoelastic sandwich structure can be improved by changing some parameters such as thickness of the layers, distribution of partial treatments, slippage between layers at the interfaces, cutting and its distribution at the top and core layers. Since the optimization problem may result in a thick core layer, for achieving more accuracy a new higher-order Taylor's expansion of transverse and in-plane displacement fields is developed for the core layer of sandwich cylindrical shell in which the displacement fields at the core layer are compatibly described in terms of the displacement fields at the elastic faces. The presented model includes fewer parameters than the previously developed models and therefore decreases the number of degree of freedom in the finite element modeling. The transverse normal stress in the core layer is also considered. The formulations are developed to consider the slippage between layers at the interfaces. Finally, by combining the finite element method and the optimization algorithms based on the genetic algorithm and sequential quadratic programming technique, a design optimization methodology has been formulated to maximize the damping characteristics using the optimal number and location of cuts and partial treatments with optimal thicknesses of top and core layers.     

An integral equation analysis of the harmonic response of three-layer beams

The integral equations of harmonic motion have been derived and solved for three-layer sandwich beams with a constrained linear viscoelastic core. The method of solution required first the construction of the Green's vector for a beam in analytical form. Following this, the integral equations were derived and readily approximated by matrix equations which were finally solved numerically. In addition to this analysis, the corresponding eigenvalue problem has been solved so that the modal frequencies and the beam loss factor could be calculated directly. The integral equation analysis offers a fast and efficient alternative to the traditional methods based on the solution of the differential equations of motion. The method has been verified by comparison with experimental results for three-layer cantilevers and simply supported beams.     

Structural synthesis of sandwich beams with outer layers of box-section

It is proved by model measurements that, for sandwich beams constructed from two rectangular tubes and a damping layer glued between them, the following calculation methods can be applied. Static bending and shear stresses as well as deflections of simply supported beams may be calculated by Allen's formulae for sandwich beams with flexurally stiff faces. The first eigenfrequency and the loss factor can be determined by using the diagrams given in reference [1]. For the loss factors Ungar's formula gives a suitable approximation. A minimum cost design procedure is presented for a sandwich beam with constant cross-section. The unknown dimensions of the cross-section are determined which satisfy the design constraints and minimize the material costs. In a numerical example, constraints relating to the maximal dynamic stresses and deflection as well as local buckling of plate elements are considered. In the optimization the backtrack combinatorial discrete programming method is applied. A numerical comparison shows that the material costs of a sandwich beam are lower than those of a homogeneous box one.