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Original Article

Proc IMechE Part L:

J Materials: Design and Applications
Estimation of loss factors of a constrained 0(0) 1–12
! IMechE 2014
layer plate using viscoelastic layer Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1464420714532792
pil.sagepub.com

K Kishore Kumar1, Y Krishna1 and P Bangarubabu2

Abstract
A finite element method is developed and validated for the estimation of loss factors of a viscoelastically damped plate.
Viscoelastic layer is used as constrained layer and is sandwiched between an aluminum base plate and a constraining layer.
Frequency-dependent material properties are used for the viscoelastic material in the finite element model. The derived
dynamic equations of motion are used to carry out harmonic analysis to determine the natural frequencies and loss
factors of sandwich plate and validated with experimental results for cantilever boundary condition. The validated finite
element model is then used to estimate the loss factors of sandwich plate with various boundary conditions and different
thicknesses of constraining and constrained layer for a given base plate thickness. The results show that the loss factor is
maximum for a constraining layer to sandwich plate thickness ratio of 0.40–0.45 and is independent of boundary
condition. The loss factor increases with increase in thickness of the viscoelastic layer. The loss factor increases for
higher mode for all boundary conditions.

Keywords
Loss factor, viscoelastic layer, sandwich plate, frequency response function, finite element method

Date received: 20 November 2013; accepted: 25 March 2014

Introduction the constrained core is due to its shear motion. Several

Viscoelastic materials (VEM) are being widely used in researchers like DiTaranto,3 Mead and Markus,4,
aerospace structures to suppress vibrations. One of Mead,5 and Rao6 extended Kerwin’s work. Nakra7–9
the effective methods of using VEM to damp out has carried out an exhaustive literature review on the
the vibration is in the form of constrained layer, topic, dealing with vibration control with VEMs.
popularly known in the literature as constrained Modeling of sandwich beams is discussed by
layer damping (CLD). Energy absorbing polymer Barbosa and Farage10 and Amichi and Atalla.11
(EAP) is the VEM used in the present work. In The three-layered plate, with highly damped visco-
CLD, viscoelastic layer is glued between base and elastic central layer has high damping capacity and
constraining layer plate. Flexural vibrations of con- high resistance to resonant vibrations. Ha12 has given
strained layer cause shearing strain in the viscoelastic overview of finite element analysis of sandwich plate.
layer which dissipates energy and thereby reduce The damping properties of fiber reinforced plastic
vibrations. The growing use of such structures has laminated plate have been improved by adding rela-
motivated many researchers to study sandwich struc- tively thin highly damped VEM between the laminated
tures. Adding viscoelastic layer to a structure and pre- faces. This type of plate has been investigated by
dicting the response is a challenging task. This is Cupial and Niziol13 and Richards et al.14 They used
because of the EAP which is viscoelastic in nature Reissner–Mindlin plate theory and assumed complex
and has frequency- and temperature-dependent modulus as constant over a frequency range. Wang
material properties. et al.15 have used frequency-dependent complex shear
The fundamental work in this field was pioneered modulus using Golla–Hughes–McTavish method.
by Ross et al.1 who used a three layer model to predict
damping in plates with CLD treatment. They studied 1
Defence Research and Development Laboratory, Hyderabad, India
2
simply supported plates and assumed a perfect inter- Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of
face and compatibility of transverse displacement in Technology, Warangal, India
each layer. Kerwin2 presented an analysis for a simply
Corresponding author:
supported sandwich beam using complex modulus to K Kishore Kumar, Defence Research and Development Laboratory,
account for damping and stiffness of viscoelastic core. Hyderabad 500 058, India.
He observed that the energy dissipation mechanism in Email: kalahasti_kishorekumar@yahoo.com
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2 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)
Figure 1. (a) Variation of Young’s and shear modulus of EAP with frequency. (b) Variation of loss factor of EAP with frequency.
Torvik and Runyon16 studied the loss factor of plates
with CLD treatment for various boundary conditions
and considered shear modulus and loss factor as con-
stant over a frequency range. Matinez and
Elejabarrieta17,18 have carried out characterization
and modeling of viscoelastic damped structures.
The present paper discusses the modeling of the
sandwich plate using Reissner–Mindlin plate theory
considering the frequency-dependent complex modu-
lus and loss factors of EAP for predicting frequency
response function (FRF) of the sandwich plate.
Complex moduli of viscoelastic layer at discrete fre-
quencies are obtained from the dynamic mechanical
analyzer (DMA). Experiments are conducted in
clamped (C) at one edge and free (F) at other three
1 edges (CFFF) boundary condition to validate the FE
model. The validated FE model of sandwich plate is
used to evaluate the loss factors for different ratios of
constraining layer to sandwich plate thicknesses (tc/t)
and constrained layer to sandwich plate thicknesses
(tv/t) for various boundary conditions.
Frequency-dependent properties of VEM
The VEM is evaluated for its Young’s Modulus, shear
modulus, and loss factor in the DMA. The VEM is a
blend of nitrile-butadiene rubber and polyvinyl chlor-
ide. The filler material is reinforcing carbon black.
Figure 2 shows the variation of Young’s modulus,
shear modulus, and loss factors with frequency for a
reference temperature of 25  C. The strain amplitude
is maintained at 0.5%. The glass transition tempera-
ture of EAP is 5  C. The shear modulus, Young’s
modulus, and loss factors that are obtained from
DMA are used to calculate complex shear and
Young’s modulus as given below
G ðfÞ ¼ Gv ðfÞð1 þ iZ0 ðfÞÞ
E ðfÞ ¼ Ev ðfÞð1 þ iZ0 ðfÞÞ
[1–13]
(PIL) [PREPRINTER stage]
where Z0 ð fÞ is the frequency-dependent loss factor of
the VEM. The shear modulus Gv ð f Þ and Young’s
modulus Ev ð f Þ for EAP can be represented by
Gv ðfÞ ¼ a12 fb22 þ c12 ð3Þ
Ev ðfÞ ¼ a11 fb11 þ c11 ð4Þ
and loss factor Z0 ð fÞ can be represented as
Z0 ðfÞ ¼ a13 fb13 þ c13 ð5Þ
where the constants a11, b11, c11, a12, b12, c12, a13, b13,
and c13 are obtained from the curve fit of measured
data. The variation of Young’s modulus, shear modu-
lus, and loss factors with frequency is shown in
Figure 1(a) and (b), respectively. The curve-fit values
are presented in Table 1.
Modeling of sandwich plate
Mathematical formulation
The equations of sandwich plate are developed based
on the following assumptions: (a) The in-plane stres-
ses in the viscoelastic (constrained) layer are much
smaller than the in-plane stresses in the base or con-
straining layer and so may be neglected. (b) The trans-
verse displacement w(x,y,t) is assumed to be same for
all layers. (c) Linear theories of elasticity and visco-
elasticity are used. (d) There is no slip at the interfaces
between the viscoelastic and base plate and viscoelas-
tic and constrained layer.
The three-layered plate under consideration and
the layer displacements are shown in Figure 2. In
this figure, u1 and u3 represent the mid-plane displace-
ment of the base plate and the constraining layer
ð1Þ along x-axis, respectively; a1 and a3 are the rotations
of the normals to the mid-planes of the base plate and
the constraining layer, respectively; and a2 is the rota-
ð2Þ tion of the normal to the mid-plane of the viscoelastic
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Kishore Kumar et al. 3

Figure 2. (a) Co-ordinates and dimensions, (b) displacements associated with each layer of sandwich plate.

Table 1. Constants of EAP obtained from curve fit of DMA data.

Property Constants

Young’s modulus, Ev a11 ¼ 1.599  106 b11 ¼ 0.3933

c11 ¼ –9.86  105
Shear modulus, Gv

core. A similar deformation pattern is considered in Where, the mid-plane strains and the curvatures
the y-direction as well. appearing in the above equations are represented in
With the shear deformation accounted for the three terms of displacements as
layers, the displacements in each layer are given by13
@ui @vi @ui @vi
u^ i ðx, y, z, tÞ ¼ ui ðx, y, tÞ þ zai ðx, y, tÞ ð6Þ Eiox ¼ , Eioy ¼ , gioxy ¼ þ
@x @y @y @x
v^ i ðx, y, z, tÞ ¼ vi ðx, y, tÞ þ zbi ðx, y, tÞ ð7Þ ð10Þ
@ai @b @ai @bi
kix ¼ , kiy ¼ i, kixy ¼ þ
^ i ðx, y, z, tÞ ¼ wðx, y, tÞ
w ð8Þ @x @y @y @x

where i ¼ 1 for base plate, i ¼ 2 for constrained layer, The continuity of displacements at the interfaces
and i ¼ 3 for constraining layer. between the core and the base plate and constraining
The z co-ordinate is measured from the mid-plane layers requires that the following relation hold
of the each layer. With above displacements, the
strain in ith layer can be written in terms of displace- tb tv tv tc
u1 þ a1 ¼ u2  a2 ; u2 þ a2 ¼ u3  a3
ments as follows 2 2 2 2
ð11Þ
Eix ¼ Eiox þ zkix , Eiy ¼ Eioy þ zkiy , Ez ¼ 0
@w @w Similar equations are obtained in y-direction, by
gixy ¼ gioxy þ zkixy , gixz ¼ ai þ , giyz ¼ bi þ
@x @y replacing ui with vi and ai with bi . From these equa-
ð9Þ tions the in-plane displacements and rotations of the
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4 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Z 1 Z 1
viscoelastic core can be expressed in terms of the in-
½Kbb k ¼ jJj ½Bbb T ½D1b ½Bbb dxdZ ð20Þ
plane displacements and rotations of the face layers 1 1
1 1 Z 1 Z 1
u2 ¼ ðu1 þ u3 Þ þ ðtb a1  tc a3 Þ
2 4 ð12Þ ½Kbs k ¼ jJj ½Bbs T ½D1s ½Bbs dxdZ ð21Þ
1 1 1 1
v2 ¼ ðv1 þ v3 Þ þ ðtb b1  tc b3 Þ
2 4 where
1 1
a2 ¼ ðu3  u1 Þ  ðtb a1 þ tc a3 Þ 2 3
tv 2tv fN3 g, x
ð13Þ   6
1 1   7
b2 ¼ ðv3  v1 Þ  tb b1 þ tc b3 Bcp ¼ 4 fN4 g, y 5 ð22Þ
tv 2tv
fN3 g, y þ fN4 g, x
2 3
fN5 g, xx
FE model of sandwich plate 6 7
½Bcb  ¼ ½Bbb  ¼ 4 fN5 g, yy 5 ð23Þ
The sandwich plate is modeled using Reissner–
2fN5 g, xy
Mindlin plate theory to evaluate the dynamic proper-
ties. The plate is discretized using four noded plate 2 3
@w
element, with nine degrees of freedom (DOF) at 6 fN8 g þ @x 7
each node. Finite element code is developed in 6 7
½Bcs  ¼ 6 7 ð24Þ
MATLABÕ . The plate is discretized into elements 4 @w 5
along the x-direction and y-direction. The element fN 9 g þ
@y
stiffness and mass matrices are obtained as given in
2     3
the following subsections. ðfN3 g fN1 gÞ tv  ðtb fN6 gþtc fN8 gÞ 2tv þ fN5 g,x
½Bsv  ¼ 4     
5
ðfN4 g fN2 gÞ tv  ðtb fN7 gþtc fN9 gÞ 2tv þ fN5 g,y
Element stiffness matrix of sandwich plate
ð25Þ
The complex stiffness matrix [K*]k of the kth element
2 3
of the sandwich plate is given by fN1 g, x
  6 7
    Bbp ¼ 4 fN2 g, y 5 ð26Þ
½K k ¼ Kcp k þ½Kcb k þ½Kcs k þ Ksv k

  fN1 g, y þ fN2 g, x
þ Kbp k þ½Kbb k þ½Kbs k ð14Þ
2 3
@w
fN6 g þ
where [Kcp], [Kcb], [Kcs] are the in-plane, bending, 6 @x 7
  and ½Bbs  ¼ 6
4
7 ð27Þ
shear stiffness of the constraining layer; Ksv is the @w 5
fN7 g þ
shear stiffness of viscoelastic layer; and [Kbp], [Kbb], @y
[Kbs] are the in-plane, bending, and shear stiffness of
2 3
the base layer. The size of element stiffness matrix is 1 vi 0
36  36.   Ei ti 6 7
Dip ¼   4 i 1 0 5 ð28Þ
These stiffness matrices are given by 1  v2i 
0 0 ð1  i Þ 2
Z 1 Z 1 2 3
   T    1 vi 0
Kcp k ¼ jJj Bcp D3p Bcp dxdZ ð15Þ
E t3
1 1
½Dib  ¼  ii 6
4 i 1 0 7
5 ð29Þ
12 1  v2i 
Z 1 Z 1
0 0 ð 1  i Þ 2
T
½Kcb k ¼ jJj ½Bcb  ½D3b ½Bcb dxdZ ð16Þ  
1 1 1 0
½Dis  ¼ Gi ti ð30Þ
Z 1 Z 1
0 1
½Kcs k ¼ jJj ½Bcs T ½D3s ½Bcs dxdZ ð17Þ
1 1
i ¼ 1 for base layer (tb) and i ¼ 3 for constraining
Z 1 Z 1 layer (tc)
 
Ksv k ¼ jJj ½Bsv T ½Dsv ½Bsv dxdZ ð18Þ  
1 1
 1 0
½Dsv  ¼ G tv where G is the frequency
Z 1 Z 1 0 1
   T   
Kbp k ¼ jJj Bbp D1p Bbp dxdZ ð19Þ  dependent complex shear modulus
1 1
ð31Þ
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Kishore Kumar et al. 5

2 @x @y 3 where [K*] is the frequency-dependent global complex

6 @x @x 7 stiffness matrix that varies with frequency-dependent
½J ¼ 4 @x @y 5 ð32Þ
shear modulus (G) and loss factor (Z) as given in
@Z @Z equations (3) and (5), {w} is the transverse displace-
ment vector, and [M] is the global mass matrix and
can be written as
Element mass matrix of sandwich plate

½ M w€ ðtÞ þ ½Kð1 þ ifwðtÞg ¼ 0 ð42Þ

The mass matrix for the kth element of the sandwich
plate is given by For base excitation problem, equation (42) can be
written as
½Mk ¼ ½Mb k þ½Mbp k þ ½Mcp k þ ½Mbr k         
ð33Þ Mcc Mcu € c ðtÞ
w Kcc Kcu wc ðtÞ 0
þ ½Mcr k þ ½Mvp k þ ½Mvr k þ ¼
Muc Muu € u ðtÞ
w Kuc Kuu wu ðtÞ 0
where ½Mbk denotes
  the mass matrix due to bending
and Mbp k , Mcp k , and ½Mvp k denote mass matri-
ces due to extension for base layer, constraining ð43Þ
layer, and viscoelastic layer, respectively. ½Mbr k ,
½Mcr k , and ½Mvr k denote matrices due to rotary where w(x,t) ¼ {wc(x,t) wu(x,t)}, where wc(x,t) is the
inertia for base layer, constraining layer, and constrained DOF and wu(x,t) is the unconstrained
viscoelastic layer, respectively. These matrices are DOF. The subscript cc and uu represent constrained
given by and unconstrained part of mass and complex stiffness
Z1Z1 matrices. Equation (41) can be written as
½Mb k ¼ ð1 tb þ 2 tv þ 3 tc ÞjJj fN5 gT fN5 gdxdZ
 ( )  
1 1
M cc M cu €c
w Kcc Kcu
ð34Þ þ
Z Z M uc M uu w€ c þwd Kuc Kuu
  1 1       ð44Þ
Mbp k ¼ 1 tb jJj fN1 gT fN1 g þ fN2 gT fN2 g dxdZ wc 0
1 1 times ¼
wc þwd 0
ð35Þ
 1
 
Z 1 Z 1   where ½  ¼ Kuu ½Kuc  is constant and
Mcp k ¼ 3 tc jJj fN3 gT fN3 g þ fN4 gT fN4 g dxdZ dimensionless.
1 1 Applying the constraints and ignoring off diagonal
ð36Þ terms, equation (44) reduces to
Z 1 Z 1  
1 t3b  
½Mbr k ¼ jJj fN6 gT fN6 g þ fN7 gT fN7 g dxdZ € d gþ Kuu fwd g¼ f½ ½Muu  þ ½Muc gfw
½Muu fw € cg
12 1 1
ð45Þ
ð37Þ
Z Z For harmonic base acceleration inputfw € c g, equa-
1 1  
 t3 tion (45) is solved for the response and FRFs are con-
½Mcr k ¼ 3 c jJj fN8 gT fN8 g þ fN9 gT fN9 g dxdZ
12 1 1 structed. In evaluating complex global stiffness matrix
ð38Þ of sandwich plate, the loss factor of the viscoelastic
layer is obtained from DMA tests and for base plate is
Z
  obtained from modal testing.
Mvp k ¼ 2 tv fNgT ½Cv fNgdA ð39Þ
A

Z Experimental setup
2 t3v
½Mvr k ¼ fNgT ½Dv fNgdA ð40Þ An aluminum base plate is constrained at one edge
12 A
and free at other three edges (CFFF) to understand
The size of the element mass matrix is 36  36. the loss factors of the first three modes. To study the
enhancement of loss factors, VEM is glued between
the base and constraining layer. The constraining
Equations of motion
layer is also made of aluminum plate. The dimensions
The equation of motion of sandwich plate subjected and material properties of base plate, constrained
to base excitation19 can be written as (EAP), and constraining layer used for experiment

and FE studied are given in Table 2. Experiments
½M w€ ðtÞ þ ½K fwðtÞg ¼ 0 ð41Þ are conducted with two thicknesses of tc/t equals to
0.16 and 0.18 and tv/t equals to 0.09 and 0.17 for
validation of FE model. The constrained and
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6 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Table 2. Material and dimensions of sandwich plate.

Material properties

Density (r), Young’s modulus (MPa) Shear

Sandwich plate Length (mm) Width (mm) Thickness (mm) kg/m3 modulus (MPa)

Base plate (1) Lxb ¼ 250 Ly ¼ 150 tb ¼ 4.00 2740 E ¼ 68,900

G ¼ 23,300
Constrained layer (2) Lxv ¼ 240 Ly ¼ 150 tv ¼ 0.50 and 1.00 1260 refer equations (3) and (4)
Constraining layer (3) Lxc ¼ 240 Ly ¼ 150 tc ¼ 1.00 2740 E ¼ 68,900
G ¼ 23,300

Figure 5. Schematic of test setup for acquiring FRF.

experiments to minimize the contributing of armature

dynamics during evaluation of natural frequencies
and loss factors of base plate and sandwich plate.
An accelerometer kept on the clamped plate measures
Figure 3. Schematic of constrained layer plate. the base acceleration and the other accelerometers on
the sandwich plate measure the responses. PC-based
LMS controller is used to provide harmonic acceler- 2
ation input to the shaker. The base plate and sand-
wich plate are tested for a frequency band of
20–1000 Hz with a sweep rate of 1 Hz at off resonance
and 0.01 Hz around resonance. The time domain base
acceleration input and responses at different location
of the plate are transformed to frequency domain
using fast Fourier transform. The FRF is obtained
from the response at a given location of plate with
respect to base acceleration input. Figure 5 shows
the schematic of test setup for acquiring FRF.

Results and discussion

The dimensions of sandwich plate used in FE and
Figure 4. Photograph of experimental setup showing bare experiment are presented in Table 2. The sandwich
plate. plate is discretized into 25 elements along x-direction
and three elements along y-direction as shown in
constraining layers are free at all the four edges as Figure 6. The constrained and constraining layer
shown in Figure 3. Epoxy-based adhesive is used to length is 240 mm compared to base plate length of
bond the viscoelastic layer to the base and the con- 250 mm. So, in FE model of sandwich plate, the
straining layer. A snapshot of the experimental setup material properties like shear modulus and density
is shown in Figure 4. The clamped end is in turn con- of constrained and constraining layer are degraded
nected to electrodynamic shaker that gives the base to a low value for the elements corresponding to 1,
excitation. Base excitation is chosen in the 26, and 51 (refer Figure 6) along the constrained edge
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Kishore Kumar et al. 7

Figure 6. FE mesh of sandwich plate.

Table 3. Comparison of FEM and experimental frequencies of

base plate.
Natural frequency (Hz) Amplification (g/g)

Loss factor
Mode FEM Expt FEM Expt (experiment)

1 47.7 48.7 63.4 63.7 0.0152

2 301.3 302.3 54.5 56.6 0.0196
3 847.4 852.3 25.1 21.1 0.0240

FEM: finite element method.

Figure 7. The FRF of base plate at point S (250, 75 mm, refer

Figure 3). and FE results match very well. The experimental loss
factors calculated using half power method20 for the
first three modes are also given in Table 3. The damp-
so that the experimental conditions are simulated. The ing present in the base plate is mainly due to its struc-
Young’s modulus, shear modulus, and loss factor of tural damping.
constrained layer are frequency dependent. So, the
complex stiffness is also frequency dependent. All
Constrained layer sandwich plate
DOFs corresponding to clamped edges are con-
strained. Base harmonic acceleration is applied The FRFs of constrained layer sandwich plate at loca-
along the constrained edge of the sandwich plate tion S (250, 75 mm) and T (125, 75 mm) for two thick-
and responses are measured for various excitation fre- nesses of tc/t equals to 0.16 and 0.18 and tv/t equals to
quencies from 20 to 1000 Hz. The FRF is constructed 0.09 and 0.17 are shown in Figures 8 and 9, respect-
at a given location. Experiments are conducted in ively. It is seen that the FRF obtained from FE and
CFFF boundary condition for two thickness ratios experiments match very well. Tables 4 and 5 present 3
of tc/t equals to 0.16 and 0.18 and tv/t equals to 0.09 the comparison of natural frequencies, amplification
and 0.17 for validation of FE model. factors, and composite loss factors obtained from FE
and experiments. Table 6 presents the comparison of
amplification factors for base plate and sandwich
Base plate plate of tc/t of 0.16 and 0.18 and tv/t of 0.09 and
The experimentally obtained FRF at the free end of 0.17. From the table it is seen that higher attenuation
the bare plate (Point S: 250 mm, 75 mm, see Figure 3) is observed for higher modes. For a given mode,
is compared with FE results and is shown in Figure 7 higher attenuation is obtained for higher thicknesses
and given in Table 3. It is seen that the experimental of viscoelastic layer.
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8 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Figure 8. FRF of constrained layer plate for tc/t ¼ 0.18 and tv/t ¼ 0.09 at a point (a). S (250, 75 mm), (b) T (125, 75 mm).

Figure 9. FRF of constrained layer plate for tc/t ¼ 0.16 and tv/t ¼ 0.17 at a point (a). S (250, 75 mm), (b) T (125, 75 mm).

Table 4. Comparison of FEM and experimental loss factors of constrained layer plate (tc/t ¼ 0.18 and tv/t ¼ 0.09).

FEM Expt

Mode Freq (Hz) Amplification (g/g) Loss factor Freq (Hz) Amplification (g/g) Loss factor

1 45.5 19.81 0.030 45.0 18.60 0.031

2 286 8.80 0.057 281.0 8.48 0.058
3 814.0 2.50 0.070 808.0 2.30 0.073
FEM: finite element method.

Table 5. Comparison of FEM and experimental loss factors of constrained layer plate (tc/t ¼ 0.16 and tv/t ¼ 0.17).

FEM Expt

Mode Freq (Hz) Amplification (g/g) Loss factor Freq (Hz) Amplification (g/g) Loss factor

1 43.60 14.60 0.051 43.07 14.40 0.052

2 267.20 4.20 0.080 273.8 3.80 0.083
3 759.00 2.10 0.12 740.16 1.70 0.130
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Kishore Kumar et al. 9

Table 6. Comparison of amplification factors for bare and constrained layer plate.

Sandwich
Base plate plate (tc/t ¼ 0.18; Sandwich plate
Configuration/ amplification, tv/t ¼ 0.09)amplification, (tc/t ¼ 0.16; tv/t ¼ 0.17)
Mode g/g (dB) g/g (dB) amplification, g/g (dB)

1 63.70 (0) 18.60 (–10) 14.40 (–13)

2 56.50 (0) 8.48 (–16) 3.80 (–22)
3 21.10 (0) 2.30 (–19) 1.70 (–23)

Figure 10. Variation of loss factor for CFFF boundary Figure 12. Variation of loss factor for CFFF boundary con-
condition (mode I). dition (mode III).

Figure 11. Variation of loss factor for CFFF boundary con- Figure 13. Variation of loss factor for SFSF boundary condi-
dition (mode II). tion (mode I).

variation of loss factor with the ratio of constraining

layer thickness to total sandwich plate thickness (tc/t)
Numerical results of constrained layer plate for first three modes in CFFF, SFSF, and FFFF
(CFFF, simple support at opposite edges and free at boundary conditions is shown in Figures 10 to 12,
other opposite edges (SFSF), and free at all four 13 to 15, and 16 to 18, respectively. From Figures
10 to 18, it is observed that the loss factors are max-
edges (FFFF) boundary conditions) imum when tc/t lies between 0.4 and 0.45. The neutral
The validated FE model is used to compute the loss axis of sandwich plate lies in constrained layer, when
factors of constrained layer plate for various thick- tc/t lies between 0.4 and 0.45. So, the shear strain is
nesses of constraining and constrained layer in maximum if the neutral axis of the sandwich plate
CFFF, SFSF, and FFFF boundary conditions. The falls in the constrained layer. It is also seen that
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10 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

Figure 14. Variation of loss factor for SFSF boundary condi- Figure 17. Variation of loss factor for FFFF boundary condi-
tion (mode II). tion (mode II).

Figure 15. Variation of loss factor for SFSF boundary condi- Figure 18. Variation of loss factor for FFFF boundary condi-
tion (mode III). tion (mode III).

is higher for higher modes for all the boundary

conditions.

Applications
The use of constrained layer viscoelastic structures
results in higher loss factors and this has potential
applications in aerospace vehicles and automobiles.
Aerospace vehicles are exposed to severe broad-
band vibrations due to boundary layer noise. It is
essential that for proper functioning of avionics, a
vibration free environment has to be ensured. This
can be achieved by using viscoelastic layer sand-
Figure 16. Variation of loss factor for FFFF boundary condi- wich structures where it is possible to obtain very
tion (mode I). high loss factors. Also, high loss factors help in
suppressing the response around resonance.
Depending upon the acceptable response, the
the peak value of loss factor is independent of design parameters of the sandwich structure can
boundary conditions. The loss factors increase be finalized.
with increase in tv/t ratio for all modes and bound-
ary conditions, and for a given tv/t the loss factor
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Kishore Kumar et al.
Conclusions
The frequency-dependent Young’s modulus and loss
factors expressed in power series for EAP are intro-
duced in the sandwich plate FE model using iterative
scheme. The composite loss factors of sandwich plate
using FEM compare very well with those obtained
from experimental results in CFFF boundary condi-
tion for two thicknesses ratios. After the validation of
FE model with experiment for CFFF boundary con-
dition with two thickness ratios, numerical studies are
carried out for CFFF, SFSF, and FFFF boundary
conditions for various thickness of constraining and
constrained layer. It is observed from the numerical
studies that the highest loss factor is obtained when tc/
t lies between 0.4 and 0.45 for all modes and boundary
conditions. This corresponds to the neutral axis of
sandwich plate falls in constrained layer (viscoelastic
layer) where the shear strain is maximum. The loss
factor also increases for higher tv/t ratios and it is
independent of boundary conditions. The loss factor
is higher for higher modes.
Acknowledgments
The authors are thankful to Director, Defence Research and
Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, India for
giving permission to pursue research in the area of layer
damping treatment. The authors would like to thank
NMRL, Ambernath for providing viscoelastic material.
4 Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
References
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Appendix 1
Notation
E*(f) frequency-dependent complex Young’s
modulus of viscoelastic layer
Ev(f) frequency-dependent real component of
Young’s modulus of viscoelastic layer
G*(f) frequency-dependent complex shear
modulus of viscoelastic layer
Gv(f) real component of frequency-dependent
shear modulus of viscoelastic layer
i ¼ 1 to 3 1 for base plate, 2 for constrained layer,
and 3 for constraining layer
[K*] global stiffness matrix
[K*]k complex element stiffness matrix of
sandwich plate
[Kbb]k element bending stiffness of base layer
[Kbp]k element in-plane stiffness of constrained
layer
[Kbs]k element shear stiffness of base layer
[Kcb]k element bending stiffness of base layer
[Kcp]k element in-plane stiffness of constrained
layer
[Kcs]k element shear stiffness of base layer
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12 Proc IMechE Part L: J Materials: Design and Applications 0(0)

 
Ksv k
complex element shear stiffness of tb, tv, tc thickness of base plate, constrained, and
viscoelastic layer constraining layer
[K]I imaginary component of global stiffness tc/t ratio of constraining layer thickness to
matrix total sandwich plate thickness
[K]R real component of global stiffness matrix tv/tb ratio of constrained layer thickness to
Lxb, Ly length and width of the base plate base plate thickness
Lxv, Lxc length of the viscoelastic layer and con- ui axial displacement of plate in
straining layer x-direction
[M] global stiffness matrix vi axial displacement of base plate in
[M]k element mass matrix of sandwich plate y-direction
[Mb]k mass matrix due to bending w transverse displacement of all three layers
Mbp k mass matrix due to extension of base €
w, w base displacement and base acceleration,
layer respectively
½Mbr k mass matrix due to rotary inertia of base
ai rotation normal to mid-plane in
  layer
x-direction
Mcp k
mass matrix due to extension of
bi rotation normal to mid-plane in
  constraining layer
y-direction
Mcp mass matrix due to rotary inertia of
k gi shear strain in ith layer
5 constraining layer
Ei strain in ith layer
½Mvp k mass matrix due to extension of 0
Z ðfÞ frequency-dependent loss factor
6 constrained layer
x and Z natural co-ordinates
½Mvp k mass matrix due to rotary inertia of
r1, r2, r3 density of base plate, constrained layer,
constrained layer
and constraining plate, respectively
t total thickness of sandwich plate