Numerical and experimental analysis of additively manufactured particle dampers at low frequencies

Particle damping is an effective method for increasing structural damping and is utilized in many fields. Using laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM), a new integrated particle damper can be produced by deliberately leaving unfused powder inside the structure. This study focuses on experimentally and numerically investigating the damping mechanism and performance of additively manufactured particle dampers in the low-frequency range (< 100 Hz). A numerical simulation approach based on the discrete element method was developed to predict the damping performance of a particle damper. To reduce the computational cost, a multi-unit particle damper (MUPD) was introduced. A series of particle dampers of 316 L stainless steel with different numbers and sizes of unit cells were built using LPBF. The damping mechanism and performance of additively manufactured MUPDs (AM-MUPD) were studied, the results cross-verified via experiments and simulations, and the effects of unit cell size and number investigated.