Optimal Damping in Circular Cylindrical Sandwich Shells With a Three-Layered Viscoelastic Composite Core

Abstract

In this work, the damping characteristics of circular cylindrical sandwich shell with a three-layered viscoelastic composite core are investigated. The new composite core is composed of the identical inclusions of graphite-strips which are axially embedded within a cylindrical viscoelastic core at its middle surface. The physical configuration of the composite core is attributed in the form of a cylindrical laminate of two identical monolithic viscoelastic layers over the inner and outer cylindrical surfaces of middle viscoelastic composite layer so that it is a three-layered viscoelastic composite core. A finite element (FE) model of the overall shell is developed based on the layerwise deformation theory and Sander's shell theory. Using this FE model, the damping characteristics of the shell are studied within an operating frequency range after configuring the size and circumferential distribution of graphite-strips in optimal manner. The numerical results reveal significantly improved damping in the sandwich shell for the use of present three-layered composite core instead of traditional single-layered viscoelastic core. It is also found that the three-layered core provides the advantage in achieving damping at different natural modes as per their assigned relative importance while it is impossible in the use of single-layered viscoelastic core.