Experimental Study on Robustness of an Eddy Current-Tuned Mass Damper

In this paper, an eddy current tuned mass damper (ECTMD) is utilized to control the vibration of a cantilever beam. The robustness of the ECTMD against frequency detuning is experimentally studied in cases of both free vibration and forced vibration. The natural frequency of the cantilever beam can be adjusted by changing the location of a lumped mass. For purposes of comparison with the ECTMD, the robustness of a tuned mass damper (TMD) is also studied. The experimental results in the free vibration case indicate that the ECTMD works well both in tuned and detuned situations, and the equivalent damping ratio of the cantilever beam equipped with the ECTMD is 2.08~5.91 times that of the TMD. However, the TMD only suppresses the free vibration effectively in the tuned situation. With forced vibration, the experimental results also demonstrate the robustness of the ECTMD in vibration suppression in detuned cases. On the other hand, the cantilever beam with TMD experiences 1.63~2.99 times the peak vibration of that of the ECTMD control.