Experimental and numerical investigations on parameters in energy dissipation in particle dampers

Particle damping has become a favorable passive damping technique for lightweight structures, however, its complex dimensioning process hinder its wide use in technical applications. An experimental based model and a numerical model are developed in order to investigate the energy dissipation of the dampers regardless of the underly- ing structure. The experimental model consists only of the particle box with a free-free boundary condition, which is excited by a harmonic force. Via the complex power, the loss factor and the energy dissipation are obtained. A corresponding numerical discrete element model is developed. With these models, a large frequency and acceleration range is analyzed. Different filling ratios of the particle box are investigated, indicating the high potential of particle dampers for different excitation ranges. First comparisons of experi- ments and simulations showing a good qualitative agreement, enabling the simulation as a future design tool for particle dampers