Compressional damping in three-layer beams incorporating nearly incompressible viscoelastic cores

Abstract : The transverse free mechanical impedance response of an elastic-viscoelastic-elastic beam incorporating the compressional damping mechanism is considered. The work of Douglas and Yang is extended to include shear deformation and rotary inertia in the elastic layers. The effects of nearly incompressible viscoelastic damping cores on the compressional frequency, and hence on the spectral range of damping effectiveness for the composite, is also discussed. Results of the analysis are shown to compare favorably with experimental results for a damped three-layer beam which was optimized for compressional damping and in which the influence of the shear damping mechanism was intentionally minimized. (Author)