Design and optimization of broadband vibration absorbers for noise control

A general and practical approach is presented for optimizing structural additions to a base structure for broadband dynamic objectives when the base structure is excited by an arbitrary forcing function. The mode shapes and natural frequencies of the base structure are first found using a commercial finite element code or an experimental modal analysis. The mode shapes are used as basis shapes to reduce the size of the equations. The structural additions are then added as impedances into the reduced modal model. An efficient analysis algorithm is presented to reduce the computational burden for broadband analysis and optimization loops. The power transferred into a Broadband Vibration Absorber (BBVA) from a base structure is maximized as an example application. The numerical results are experimentally verified demonstrating the practical design capabilities of the method.