Energy Transfer in a Three Body Momentum Exchange Impact Damper

Impact vibration such as a floor vibration caused by jumping of children or vibration of a press machine is very important engineering problem. The momentum exchange impact damper has been proposed to solve these problems. The basic principle of this damper is based on the energy transfer on collision of three body systems. However energy or momentum transfer at the impact is not explained theoretically. This paper considers the energy transfer incurred during collisions in three body systems. The three body systems considered herein consists of an impact mass, a main body and an absorber mass. When the impact mass collides with the main body, part of its kinetic energy is transferred to the main body. When the main body simultaneously collides with the absorber mass, part of the kinetic energy of the main body is transferred to the absorber mass. Consequently, the main body receives a small amount of shock and it is possible to keep the main body nearly stationary. In this study, the influence of contact frequency and natural frequency of the system on the energy transfer during collision is analyzed. A theoretical model is developed to analyze the effect of various system parameters. It is shown that the maximum transfer of energy that can be obtained occurs when the contact frequencies are the same. The theoretical analysis is validated with experimental results.