(160h) Novel Nano-Particle Based Damping Systems

Mechanical damping of impact, vibration, or other forces is important to a wide range of mechanical systems to protect them against shock, fatigue, or other damage. We are designing a novel class of damping device using nano-particles as the damping medium. Currently, most damping devices use either a hydraulic or mechanical damping mechanism. A particle based damper will have essentially temperature independent performance, giving it an advantage in many applications over the traditional hydraulic damper. Yet, the nano-particle system should have greater longevity than the mechanical systems, which can fatigue through intense usage. Particle dynamics simulations of the nano-particles are proving to be an effective method to investigate how and which particle properties influence their ability to dissipate mechanical motion. Inter-particle friction and adhesion are shown to be important to the damping mechanism. Geometries mimicking both thrust and shear damping are being simulated.