A Robust Technique for Polymer Damping Identification Using Experimental Transmissibility Data

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Vibrational Analysis

Background:

• Estimating polymer damping is crucial for material characterization and performance prediction.
• Traditional methods like the HPB method face limitations with high damping or noisy data.
• Accurate modal identification is essential for reliable material property estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a robust modal identification method for estimating polymer damping.
• To demonstrate the advantages of the proposed method over traditional techniques for polymeric materials.
• To determine the complex modulus of a composite cantilever beam as a function of frequency.

Main Methods:

• Modal identification applied to frequency functions.
• Experimental transmissibility function measurement on a composite cantilever beam.
• Curve-fitting using the MDOF (Multi-Degree-of-Freedom) method across the entire frequency range, considering residuals.

Main Results:

• The complex modulus was determined as a function of frequency.
• A regenerated function based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory was obtained and compared with experimental data.
• The MDOF method with residual consideration proved superior for curve-fitting polymeric materials.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method offers a robust alternative for polymer damping estimation, especially for materials with high damping or noise.
• Utilizing the MDOF method across the full frequency range with residual consideration is the optimal approach for curve-fitting polymeric materials.
• This method significantly reduces the number of experimental tests required compared to the SDOF (Single-Degree-of-Freedom) method.