Abstract
In this paper, a technique how to evaluate the damping characteristics of structures packed with balls is experimentally discussed by considering a free vibration response to impulsive force. Test structures are square pipes excitedly packed with glass balls, steel balls and sintered alumina balls. In such structures, various damping characteristics appear by changing the ball size. However, it is difficult to evaluate the various damping characteristics of structures packed with balls by means of general evaluation technique, such as half-power method and logarithmic decrement method. Therefore, a general evaluation technique of damping characteristic applicable to a linear or a nonlinear system, and also applicable to a low damping capacity or to a high damping capacity is examined. In this study, it is experimentally confirmed that the evaluation of such damping characteristics is possible by considering the damping time and the damping wave area in free vibration response.
