Enhancing vibration damping properties of additively manufactured viscoelastic structures through process parameter optimization

With the increasing use of additive manufacturing (AM) in diverse fields, printed structures are inevitably exposed to vibrations, which can result in fracture, fatigue, and noise. Present study aims to enhance the damping characteristics of the final part by incorporating viscoelastic materials into the primary structure using multi-material AM. The effects of process parameters on the vibration damping characteristics of printed viscoelastic structures were investigated through modal analysis and design of experiments. Results show that higher nozzle temperature, smaller layer height, lower deposition speed and smaller raster angle contribute to higher resonant frequencies and loss factors of the final parts.