DAMPING OF BEAM FORCED VIBRATION BY A MOVING WASHER

A new type of self-damping system—an elastic beam with a sliding washer—is analyzed. It is found that under external excitation the motion of the washer sliding along the beam can eliminate resonances, and decrease the beam’s dynamic response to random stationary and impulsive excitation. Experimental results with physical explanations as well as a mathematical model are presented. Possible applications of such systems with “self-damping” may be further extended to two-dimensional and three-dimensional distributed oscillating systems if specially designed elements of the system are free to move under the action of vibration-induced internal forces. © 1993 Academic Press Limited.