Thermal Effect on Dynamics of Beam with Variable-Stiffness Nonlinear Energy Sink

In this study, we investigate the targeted energy transfer (TET) from a simply supported beam that is subjected to thermal variations and external excitations to a local nonlinear energy sink (NES). We derive the governing equation of motion for the beam with an NES device and study the influences of NES parameters on the vibration-suppressing effect. We obtain the optimized parameters of the NES under constant-amplitude harmonic excitation at room temperature. The optimized NES gradually loses its vibration absorption efficiency as the excitation amplitude and temperature increase. We change the nonlinear stiffness of the NES to mitigate the influence of temperature variation and show that NES efficiency can be enhanced by reducing the nonlinear stiffness. We propose a variable-stiffness NES, and the results demonstrate this NES is best for maintaining efficiency over the whole temperature range. We also analyze the transient responses of the system under impulse loads. Results indicate that, like the performance of the system subjected to harmonic excitation, an NES with relatively low stiffness can better suppress vibration with increasing impulse amplitude and temperature.