Modeling and experimental investigation of a novel arc-surfaced frictional damper

Abstract In this investigation, an innovative type of frictional damper called Arc-surfaced Frictional Damper (AFD) is introduced. The damping force of such damper is secured by pre-compression of Polyurethane Elastomer (PUE). The major advantage of AFD is that its frictional surfaces are curved so that the damping force varies with displacement. The mathematical model for AFD is established to predict its hysteretic behavior and analyze its mechanism. Then the hysteretic behavior of AFD was studied by experimental means. Experiment program included tests with various pre-compressions at quasi-static loading and dynamic loading with various frequencies was conducted. The results show a saddle-shaped behavior in the force-displacement relation. Furthermore, it is verified that AFD does have the hysteretic property of variable frictional force and the proposed mathematical model can be used to predict the hysteretic behavior of AFD. Hysteretic characteristics of AFD such as slip load, energy dissipation capacity, the effective stiffness and damping per cycle of loading are calculated.