A Hybrid Damper Composed of Elastomer and Piezo Ceramic for Multi-Mode Vibration Control

This study develops a hybrid damper for multi-modal vibration by combining an elastomer and a piezo ceramic element. The basic idea is to obtain satisfactory damping in the low frequency range, where elastomer does not work well, by introducing a piezoelectric element. In this hybrid damper, the elastomer comprises a dynamic absorber with a metal plate of small mass that deals with higher-frequency vibration, while piezo ceramic comprises a shunt damper with an electric shunt circuit that works for lower-frequency vibration. The effectiveness of this approach is examined through vibration control of a cantilever beam. The aim is to suppress the 1st mode vibration with the shunt damper and the 2nd mode with the dynamic absorber. With appropriate tuning procedures for the control parameters, vibration suppression of more than 10dB is attained in each mode.