Dynamic analysis and passive control of viscoelastically damped nonlinear dynamic contacts

This paper presents an analytical and finite element study on nonlinear contact dynamics and controls. Nonlinear dynamic contacts between eccentrically supported masses and simply supported beams are studied. Passive control of the dynamic contacts using viscoelastic dampers is also proposed and evaluated. A nonlinear contact finite element is modeled by a set of nonlinear stiffness and damping polynomial functions; and a nonlinear viscoelastic finite element is modeled by a Standard Linear Model with frequency-dependent nonlinear stiffness and damping functions. Analyses show that the dynamic contact force increases as the initial gap increases. Application of viscoelastic dampers can effectively reduce contact loads and prevent dynamic contacts. A simple design equation is also proposed.