Effect of Increased Damping in Subordinate Oscillator Arrays

Previous literature has shown that large structures with a significant number of smaller attached structures exhibit much higher apparent damping than was predicted by models. Further research into this effect led to the discovery that arrays of such small attachments can be designed to alter the response of the overall system. That work also showed that small variation in the distribution of attachment mass or stiffness degrade the performance of the system. Additive manufacturing has now matured such that several methods provide the capability to realize the tolerances required to effectively test these designs. This paper discusses the use of StereoLithography Apparatus (SLA) optical fabrication to test the error sensitivity of different materials using laser vibrometry to characterize the mechanical behavior of the system.