Distribution optimization of constrained damping materials covering on typical panels under random vibration

This paper studies topology optimization of metallic and composite panels of three different configurations (flat, three-bay and 3×3 grid) covered by the constrained damping materials considering first modal loss factors. The vibration experiments seek to obtain the first modal loss factor and first modal frequency for the aforementioned panels, and corresponding finite element (FE) simulations are completed using commercial software ABAQUS®. According to simulation results, the distribution of constrained damping materials is optimized with evolutionary structural optimization (ESO) method developed using MATLAB. The results show that the first modal loss factors of optimized panels are reduced slightly if the constrained damping material is removed by 50%. Under the base excitation near each first modal frequency, the maximum root mean square of Von Mises equivalent stress (RMISES) of optimized flat panels and 3×3 grid stiffened panels decreases compared with panels without constrained damping materials. However, the maximum RMISES value of optimized three-bay stiffened panels nearly remains unchanged due to the configuration type of the stiffeners. These results conclude that the three-bay stiffened panel is the best to reduce the maximum RMISES value of at base structure with the same additional mass.