On the decoupling of vibration damping and vibration absorption with friction dampers

Conventional tuned mass dampers are designed either for a local frequency response or for broadband applications. In either case, optimization of both the resonance amplitudes and the tuned frequency amplitude is not possible. This paper considers a novel friction damper, the tuned wedge damper, which utilizes piecewise-defined contact geometries to decouple vibration absorption from vibration damping. Consequently, a simultaneous optimization of the tuned frequency and the amplitude in the resonance regimes is possible. The damper is investigated via numerical and analytical methods. Experimental investigations validate the theoretical insights and offer the first proof of concept for the implementation of the tuned wedge damper.