Design of a 1-3 smart viscoelastic composite layer for augmented constrained layer damping treatment of plates

Abstract

Abstract In the present work, damping performance of plate with constrained 1-3 smart viscoelastic composite (SVC) layer is studied. The 1-3 SVC is formed through the inclusion of piezoelectric patches within pure viscoelastic material (VEM) phase. The overall structural plate is modelled using finite element method. First, the characteristics of in-plane normal strain and transverse shear strain of overall structural plate are examined. Then, in order to study the dynamic performance, the optimal dimensions of present 1-3 SVC strips are determined using direct search method. There is significant improvement in damping with respect to pure VEM. Both extensional and shear counterparts of modal loss factor increase. These results express that 1-3 SVC may be a useful damping layer in the constrained layer damping treatment of overall structural plates..