Design of Particle/Granules Damper for Vertical Vibration with Approximate Analysis

This paper describes the particle/granular damper design, based on the analytical single mass damper model and experiments with smaller size steel balls. The effects of various system parameters, including filled mass ratio, particle size, enclosure/container dimensions, intensity and frequency of excitation, were investigated using a SDOF structure under harmonic force excitation when the vertical excitation is applied to the structure. The damper design calls for that the damped motions of the structure equipped with steel ball become periodic as well as kept approximately equivalent as predictions with the analytical model. It is shown that the suitable size of steel ball and enclosure/container dimensions were found to be selected for the combinations of filled mass ratio and excitation levels in the vicinity of the optimum range of system. Thus, the particle dampers with steel balls within moderate mass ratio can be very effective in attenuating the response of lightly damped structures.