This article addresses a particular realization of a compact bistable nonlinear absorber based on the concept of Nonlinear Energy Sink. The article presents both a detailed description of the absorber mechanics and an illustration of the targeted energy transfer between the absorber and a linear system. The experimental results are accompanied with the numerical simulations. Beside practical improvements linked to the features of absorber design, the obtained results stay in line with those found for simpler realizations of a bistable Nonlinear Energy Sinks.

The goal of our research is to develop a nonlinear absorber that will be effective at low frequencies and low amplitudes of vibration, notably in the domain of vibroacoustics. From this perspective, the usual Nonlinear Energy Sinks (NESs) based on the idea of the internal resonance have certain limitations due to the relatively high activation threshold. In order to decrease this threshold we developed the idea of a bistable absorber. The bistability provides a chaotic regime in the absorber dynamics that leads to effective dissipation by the NES. While this energy transfer is completely different from the well-known energy pumping, the two types share the main features such as the activation threshold and the functioning region. The bistable NES that we propose consists of a clamped-clamped buckled beam and an attached mass. The experimental and numerical tests performed for our particular realization of a bistable absorber have shown its high efficiency and robustness.