Role of Damping in Anomalous Response to Short Pulse Loading

Abstract

The paper summarizes recent results on the unexpectedly critical role played by damping in the class of problems where pulse loading may lead to anomalous final displacements, i.e., opposite to the direction of loading. Use is made of a single degree of freedom (SDOF) model to study these effects. The main result being emphasized here is that in the range of conditions where these anomalous results may occur, it is not possible to predict the sign of the final displacement of the damped structure from calculations made on the undamped structure. In general the response is calculable by standard numerical methods, although severe difficulties will be encountered at sufficiently small damping magnitudes. An example in the literature is cited where lack of awareness of the unusual effects of damping in this problem led to erroneous results and conclusions.