Passive Vibration Control

Developments in passive control technology and theory over recent years require a comprehensive new work on the subject, a gap now filled by Passive Vibration Control. In this volume, the divide between the many classical text books on vibration analysis and the few books on specialist aspects of passive control is finally bridged. In addition, the valuable analytical tool of receptance/dynamic stiffness theory is extensively covered. Initially, a review of recent findings on vibration levels which cause structural damage, machine malfunctioning or human disturbance, discomfort and injury is presented. The following four chapters review the theoretical response of structures to imposed forces or motions (which may in turn be harmonic, periodic, random or transient) and aim to advance the readers existing knowledge of vibration theory into the theory of receptances and structural modal analysis. This presentation has a two-fold purpose: (a) to enhance physical understanding of theoretical concepts and (b) to identify the principal system parameters which control vibration levels before passive control measures are undertaken. The remaining chapters consider successively the controlling factors in beam and plate vibration and methods of reduction, general structural design principles for minimizing vibration, the control of vibration by localized additions (with special emphasis on dynamics absorbers), and sources of structural damping and damping methods. The use of vibration isolators and, finally, combinations of these methods are also examined, resulting in a text of great value and interest to all vibration control analysts, practitioners, and researchers.