Experimental demonstration of a 3D-printed nonlinear tuned vibration absorber

Engineering structures are designed to be lighter and more flexible, hence reducing the extent of application of linear dynamic models. Concurrently, vibration mitigation is required for enhancing the performance, comfort or safety in real-life applications. Passive linear vibration absorbers are purpose-built, often designed using Den Hartog's equal-peak strategy. However, nonlinear systems are known to exhibit frequency-energy-dependent oscillations which linear absorbers cannot effectively damp out. In this context, the paper introduces a new nonlinear tuned vibration absorber (NLTVA) whose nonlinear functional form is tailored according to the frequency-energy dependence of the nonlinear primary structure. The NLTVA design aims at ensuring equal peaks in the nonlinear receptance function for an as large as possible range of forcing amplitudes, hence generalizing Den Hartog's method to nonlinear systems. Our focus in this study is on experimental demonstration of the NLTVA performance using a primary structure consisting of a cantilever beam with a geometrically nonlinear component at its free end. The absorber is implemented using a doubly-clamped beam fabricated thanks to 3D printing. The NLTVA performance is also compared with that of the classical linear tuned vibration absorber.