Theoretical and experimental investigation of a tunable vibration absorber with liquid elastic chamber

This paper presents a novel Tunable Vibration Absorber with Liquid Elastic Chamber (TVA-LEC) for structural vibration suppression. It is formed by covering a rigid cylindrical chamber with two rubber membranes that act as springs and filling the chamber with incompressible liquid. Compared to conventional TVAs, the TVA-LEC is cost and weight efficient when it is integrated to the liquid network of a primary structure, such as oil pipelines inside aircraft wings, by utilizing the existing liquid as the mass of the TVA. A single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) analytical model is developed for the proposed device with discussions on the tuning of its natural frequency. It is revealed that the natural frequency of the TVA-LEC can be tuned by regulating the liquid mass. The analytical model is validated by experimental tests in which the TVA-LEC is installed on a cantilever beam and the liquid mass is adjusted. The natural frequency of the TVA-LEC device shifts from 16.99 Hz to 21.99 Hz by adding liquid, which agrees well with the analytical prediction.