NON OBSTRUCTIVE PARTICLE DAMPING FOR HOLLOW STRUCTURE IN A VEHICLE

摘要

The invention here is the use of particle damping to improve the structural characteristics of a cradle used in a passenger car. The cradle here mounts the engine, gearbox and the suspension systems. The cradle is made of four tubes welded to each other. To improve the damping characteristics of the cradle, particle damping was applied on all the cradle members. The damping properties of the structure have improved by more than 50% with this method. The frequency analysis and modal data has also shown a quantum improvement through out the frequency range especially in the frequencies above 200 Hz. This is a cost effective solution which can be implemented directly into production with no additional cost of tooling and materials. Fig 3