Parametric study of pendulum type dynamic vibration absorber for controlling vibration of a two DOF structure

Passive dynamic vibration absorbers (DVAs) are often used to suppress the excessive vibration of a large structure due to their simple construction and low maintenance cost compared to other vibration control techniques. A new type of passive DVA consists of two pendulums connected with spring and dashpot element is investigated. This research evaluated the performance of the DVA in reducing the vibration response of a two degree of freedom shear structure. A model for the two DOF vibration system with the absorber is developed. The nominal absorber parameters are calculated using a Genetic Algorithm(GA) procedure. A parametric study is performed to evaluate the effect of each absorber parameter on performance. The simulation results show that the optimum condition for the absorber frequencies and damping ratios is mainly affected by pendulum length and mass, and the damping coefficient of the pendulum’s hinge joint. An experimental model validates the theoretical results. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed technique is able be used as an effective alternative solution for reducing the vibration response of a multi degree of freedom vibration system