Damping characteristics of a multilayered constrained beam using viscoelastic butyl rubber layer with wide temperature range

Constrained layer damping (CLD) is an effective measure to control vibration. How to design CLD structure to obtain high structural damping ratio is a significant research topic. In this paper, first, a kind of butyl rubber (IIR) with high material loss factor was successfully fabricated by mixing hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene petroleum resin (HDCPD) and polyisobutylene (PIB) oligomers. A kind of CLD structure was prepared with IIR as damping layer and epoxy resin (EP) as constraining layer. Second, the structural damping characteristics of multilayered CLD were investigated based on the cantilever beam method. Third, the simulation model of the multilayered CLD was established based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) and validated by the results from experiment. Finally, the influence of material properties and structural parameters on the structural damping performance of multilayered CLD were investigated. The results have shown that PIB and HDCPD can adjust the material loss factor and control the effective temperature range of IIR. Whether the structural damping ratio increases with the layer number or not, is not only based on the layer number itself, but also the structural parameters and material properties. This paper can provide a basis for the fabrication of IIR with high material loss factor and the design of multilayered CLD structure with high structural damping ratio.