Design of a Variable Thickness Plate to Focus Bending WavesThis paper describes the design of a thin plate whose thickness is tailored in order to focus bending waves to a desired location on the plate. Focusing is achieved by smoothly varying the thickness of the plate to create a type of lens, which focuses structural-borne energy. Damping treatment can then be positioned at the focal point to efficiently dissipate energy with a minimum amount of treatment. Numerical simulations of both bounded and unbounded plates show that the design is effective over a broad frequency range, focusing traveling waves to the same region of the plate regardless of frequency. This paper also quantifies the additional energy dissipated by local damping treatment installed on a variable thickness plate relative to a uniform plate.
Document ID
20120014592
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Schiller, Noah H. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Lin, Sz-Chin Steven (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)
Cabell, Randolph H. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Huang, Tony Jun (Pennsylvania State Univ. University Park, PA, United States)