Tailored Damping Induced by a Cluster of Resonators

This paper is inspired by some recent studies related to the effect of vibration absorption from a set of resonators when attached to a main structure. In fact, a cluster of phase incoherent resonators can absorb very effectively the energy of a primary vibrating structure to which it is attached, that amounts to an apparent damping effect. In particular, the characteristic frequency bandwidth of energy absorption of the cluster depends on the frequency distribution within the set of resonators. The paper addresses the problem of defining the frequency distribution of the layer that induces a desired frequency dependent damping in the master. A numerical procedure, called "damping tailoring" able to solve this problem is presented and illustrated through a set of examples.