Tuneable vibration control of beams using granular multilayer composite

We explore a passive control solution of bending waves in beams, which takes advantage of the dissipative properties of granular media. It consists in a layer of particles confined between two beams and interacting with each other through their contacts. The inter-particles contacts are intrinsically dissipative due to friction, which efficiently works under shear. In practice, the mechanical response of such a multilayer inherit Hertz contact mechanics, thus conferring confining pressure dependent elasticity and dissipation. Previous work have shown that the hysteretic shear behaviour of a granular medium confined in a box can be reasonably captured by a single DOF model using Dahl model fed by an effective medium theory of granular media. Using this reduced model together with finite element method, we simulate the dynamic response of a three-layer composite beam whose core is made of confined frictional particles. This model makes it possible to characterize its elastic and damping properties, revealing in particular a high and tuneable loss factor with respect to shear strain amplitude and confining pressure, suitable for vibro-acoustics applications.