| Tuned mass dampers (TMDs) are narrowband vibration treatment devices commonly used for dampening the vibration of a structure at a particular resonant frequency. TMDs are vairations of the more general tuned absorber/dampers commonly used in treating narrow-band noise and vibration issues. The schematics of a tuned mass damper (the 2nd order systems M2-K2-C2) by itself and appended to a vibrating structure (depicted as the 2nd order system M1-K1-C1) are shown in Figure 1(a) and Figure 1(b), respectively. |
The make-up of a tuned mass damper consist of an inertia element (a mass),
a resilient element (spring), and an energy dissipating element (damper).
The most commonly used resilient and
dissipative elements in such devices are metal (helical or leaf) spring and
viscous dampers.
Contrary to viscous (and other conventional) dampers which need to be attached to the vibrating structure at one end and anchored to a massive support at the other, tuned mass dampers need to be connected to the vibrating structure at one end only (no need to be anchored at the other end) and could be placed within the structure. These devices are tuned by setting their natural frequencies substantially equal to the resonant frequencies of the structure targeted for damping. |
