Constrained layer damping treatment of a model support sting

In transonic wind tunnel tests, the pulsating airflow is prone to induce the first order resonance of the sting support system. The resonance limits the wind tunnel test envelope, makes the test data inaccurate, and brings potential security risks. In this paper, a model support sting with constrained layer damping (CLD) treatment is proposed to reduce the first order resonance response. The CLD treatment mainly consists of material selection and geometric optimization processes. The damping performance of the optimized CLD sting is compared with an AISI 1045 steel sting with the identical diameter in laboratory. The frequency response curves of the CLD sting support system and the AISI 1045 steel sting support system are obtained by sine sweep tests. The test results show that the first order resonance response of the CLD sting support system is 37.3% of that of the AISI 1045 steel sting support system. The first order damping ratios are calculated from the frequency response curves by half power point method. It is found that the first order damping ratio of the CLD sting support system is approximately 2.6 times that of the AISI 1045 steel sting support system.