The process of energy dissipation in particle dampers (PDs) occurs mainly due to relative motion between solid particles within the damper container. The degree of relative motion between solid particles is especially sensitive to vibration amplitude changes. As the vibration amplitude decreases, less relative motion between solid particles is observed, leading to a drastic decrease in the damping performance of PDs. In this work a new approach is investigated, in which the damper contains a combination of both solid and liquid fillings, to overcome the shortcomings of a conventional PD. In order to better understand the underlying energy dissipation mechanisms a simulation model of a partially liquid‐filled particle damper with complex non‐convex shapes is set up. The liquid motion is modeled using the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method and the Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to model the motion of solid particles. A numerical experiment is set up, where a particle damper is attached to a one degree of freedom spring‐mass‐damper system. By analysing the free response behavior of this system, the energy dissipated in various PD configurations is compared. Simulation results show more relative motion, hence more energy dissipation, in the liquid‐filled PD case than in the purely solid filled and purely liquid PD case, especially under low vibration amplitudes. Moreover, numerical studies were performed using a coupled SPH‐DEM approach to study the effect of the particle shape on the energy dissipation in liquid‐filled particle dampers.

Background The background of this work is the classification of the broadband properties of particle dampers (PDs). This broadband characteristic has experienced little systematic investigation in experiments. Objective So the primary objective of this paper is to find a measure to quantify the broadband damping properties of PDs. Also the demonstration of applicability to technical structures is a desired goal and the experiments provide a sound basis. Methods The methods for evaluating the performance of particle dampers and tuned mass dampers target the reduction of vibration amplitudes over the frequency range. The test bench consists of a mechanical frame structure with multiple eigenfreqencies up to 200 Hz harmonically excited with an electrodynamic shaker. From the differences in the dynamic behaviour the performance metric will be derived and evaluated. Results As a result, a dynamic structure is set up as an effective test bench for different damper configurations. Differences of the tested concepts in regard to the dynamic behaviour over a wide frequency range are observed. From the experimental data a performance metric is deduced to quantify these differences. Conclusion The conclusions drawn from this paper are, that PDs provide high damping over a wide frequency range. Furthermore, with a suitable performance metric this broadband damping properties can be quantified for the use in further development of PDs.