Dynamic analysis of damping in layered and welded beams

Damping in built-up structures is often caused by energy dissipation due to micro-slip along the frictional interfaces, which provides a beneficial damping mechanism and plays an important role in controlling the vibration behavior of these structures. A careful study of the micro-slip phenomenon has been carried out in layered and tack welded cantilever beams. A little amount of work has been reported till date on the damping capacity of structures with welded joints. The objective of the present study is to analyze the dynamic behavior of two layered and tack welded beams undergoing interfacial slip. The Bernoulli–Euler hypothesis is assumed to hold in the present analysis and a linear constitutive expression between the horizontal slip and the interfacial shear force has been developed to quantify the amount of energy dissipation during dynamic loading. Experimental results are found to validate the theoretical analysis.

► Slip damping is predominant in layered and welded structures.
► Energy dissipation increases with increase in excitation level.
► The frequency ratio has its modulating effect on the dynamic slip.
► Slip damping capacity decreases with the increase in thickness.