An Experimental Evaluation of Smart Damping Materials for Reducing Structural Noise and Vibrations

Abstract

An experimental evaluation of the benefits of smart damping materials in reducing structural noise and vibration is presented. The construction of a special test rig for measuring both vibrations and structure-borne noise is discussed. Next, the application of smart damping materials, specifically piezoceramics with electrical shunts, in reducing the vibrations of a test plate is discussed. It is shown that the smart damping materials are able to effectively reduce the vibration peaks at multiple frequencies, with minimal amount of added weight to the structure, as compared to passive viscoelastic damping materials. Further, the test results show that the structure-borne noise at the vibration peaks is substantially reduced with the smart damping materials. The results indicate the viability of smart damping materials for many industrial applications where reducing noise and vibrations is desired, with minimal amounts of added weight.