Suppression of ringing oscillations from high speed rubber compression curves through a detailed modal characterization of servo-hydraulic machines

System ringing is one of the most important factors affecting the quality of data obtained in high speed dynamic material tests using servo-hydraulic machines. This phenomenon is characterized by vibrations originated by the excitation of predominant modes of the machine during tests, producing distinctive waves in material curves that severely distort the required results. In the specialized literature, the quantitative study of these vibrations has mainly been carried out considering the testing machine as a single degree of freedom system, which has led to a general understanding of the variables involved in the process. However, discrepancies between analytical predictions and experimental observations have been detected using the single degree of freedom approach, so the need for further detailed study of machine dynamic characteristics has been reported. The work presented in this paper addresses this requirement by means of a detailed characterization of the dynamic behavior of a MTS 819.10 high rate testing system. Natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping factors have been obtained from an experimental modal analysis performed on the machine and a mathematical model of the process has been developed from these modal parameters. This model has been used to detect the modes that have the greatest influence in system ringing when testing rubber at high strain rates, and to predict quantitatively the amplitudes of vibrations produced in the process. Material curves have been corrected by subtracting the predicted undulations from the original measurements, obtaining smooth curves that adequately reflect the real material behavior at high strain rates and, thus, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed procedure. Although the research conducted in this work has been focused on rubber, the procedure can be extended equally to characterize other materials, thus constituting a valuable tool to correct experimental measurements contaminated by ringing.