The Need

Damping materials provide energy attenuation solutions for a variety of commercial applications. These materials are prominently used in the auto and aerospace industries and are also found in conventional building practices, and industrial settings. Most standard damping materials work in a limited frequency range, or they have too much mass to be useful in the many industries where added mass is a penalty to efficiency, such as for vehicle systems. A material that is both lightweight and provides a substantial, broad damping performance is the next technological advancement needed in this field.

The Technology

Researchers at The Ohio State University, led by Dr. Ryan Harne, developed lightweight hyper-damping materials that provides substantial vibration and noise attenuation performance over a broad spectrum of frequencies. One sample design of these material systems is an elastomer cylinder fabricated through various suitable molding procedures. Once manufactured, the elastomer cylinder is inserted into a thin metal shell, geometrically constraining the elastomer cylinder near the elastic stability limit. When a material is at the elastic stability limit, the natural frequency vanishes, and the construct exhibits unusually large damping properties, especially in the low frequency range, also known as hyper-damping.

Commercial Applications

Industries that can benefit from noise attenuation:

• Automotive
• Aerospace
• Marine
• Construction
• Machinery/Factories
• Buildings
• Windows

Benefits/Advantages

• Hyper-damping materials that exhibit large, broadband vibration/acoustic energy damping in a lightweight material
• Material can be incorporated in original design or retrofit to existing product
• Due to the strategic interior molded architecture, the weight of the hyper-damping material is significantly less than comparable materials
• Low cost material