Dampers And Damping
In case of structures with low damping, the structural vibrations may grow to severe magnitude if the exciting frequency of the external force is in resonance with the structural natural frequency. Resonance can cause discomfort and fatigue failure.
For modern structures being light and slender, damping often becomes an important issue. The steady-state vibrations at resonance are only limited by the damping of the structure. Therefore increased damping is often required.
Svend Ole Hansen ApS has applied solutions to vibration problems caused by environmental -, human – , and machine – induced loads. The solutions have been varying from custom made Tuned Mass Dampers (TMD) in size from 20 kg to 1000 kg, viscous dampers, moving the structural frequency away from the problematic load frequency band, and increasing the structural damping by friction in an added concrete medium or rubber mounting. Each project is solved with respect to the specific circumstances involved.
See a demonstration of the TMD principle here.