Closed-form solutions and the eigenvalue problem for vibration of discrete viscoelastic systems

A procedure for obtaining closed-form homogeneous solutions for the problem of vibration of a discrete viscoelastic system is developed for the case where the relaxation kernel characterizing the constitutive relation of the material is expressible as a sum of exponentials. The developed procedure involves the formulation of an eigenvalue problem and avoids difficulties encountered with the application of the Laplace transform approach to multi-degree-of-freedom viscoelastic systems. Analytical results computed by using the developed method are demonstrated on an example of a viscoelastic beam.