LAUSR

Abstract Weight-reduction focused design often leads to a problematic vibration susceptibility of the components. In order to reduce environmental and health risks, the vibrations have to be decreased preferably through lightweight-compatible solutions. The investigations presented in this manuscript aim at the establishment of a new method for almost weight-neutral adaptive tuning of the dynamic behavior. The proposed unique actuating principle is based on structural cavities generating forces and slight structural deformations (evanescent morphing) when supplied with fluid, air, or vacuum. The cavities encapsulate compressible, low-profile viscoelastic elements operating according to an extended principle of the constrained layer damping (CLD). The proposed active vibration mitigation consists of the damping capacity adaptation of the viscoelastic elements through their thickness variation using the evanescent morphing as an efficient actuating mechanism. To validate this mechanism, existing model of a beam with CLD was extended by the compression-driven change of the geometrical and material properties of the viscoelastic layer. The results of the preliminary studies on a generic beam are presented. A very significant reduction of the vibration amplitudes up to 33.5 dB could be observed at the first eigenfrequency, whereas in the whole analyzed frequency spectrum an averaged reduction of 9.2 dB was obtained.