Measurement of damping in structures by the power input method

Damping refers to the extraction of mechanical energy from a vibrating system usually by conversion of this energy into heat. Damping serves to control the steady-state resonant response and to attenuate traveling waves in the structure. There are two types of damping: material damping and system damping. Material damping is the damping inherent in the material while system or structural damping includes the damping at the supports, boundaries, joints, interfaces, etc. in addition to material damping.