Experimental and numerical investigation of the damping properties of adhesively bonded tubular steel joints

A large number of structures in various fields are repeatedly subjected to dynamic loading during their lifetime. To avoid or reduce vibration amplitudes possibly occuring, the use of vibration damping measures is necessary. Due to their inherent material damping, viscoelastic adhesives show a potential to reduce the dynamic effects of structures. This has not yet been comprehensively investigated for adhesively bonded joints. This paper reports on experimental and numerical investigations of damping properties of adhesively bonded tubular steel joints in a scale relevant for construction industry and thus represents a fundamental data set. Different adhesive joint geometries and test parameters were investigated experimentally and their influence on the damping properties of adhesively bonded specimens is discussed and evaluated. The test results show that the damping properties of adhesively bonded joints can be enhanced by increasing the adhesive layer thickness and reducing the overlap length. In addition, the damping properties of the test specimens increase with a rise in the stress on the adhesive layer. The influence of the test frequency on the loss factor is of secondary importance. Furthermore, material models of the adhesives used were developed and validated successfully on the basis of the experimental test result presented.