<title>Granular-filled composite struts for increased damping in hexapod applications</title>

Abstract

A hexapod strut at the University of Wyoming currently exhibits high resonant modes at 3 kHz and above. To reduce these resonant peaks, the current aluminum rod of one of the struts was redesigned. A graphite/epoxy granularly filled composite tube was designed and incorporated into the strut. Reduction in the resonant peaks of up to 32 dB's was achieved. Six of the above mentioned composite tubes were fabricated and incorporated into the hexapod. Testing showed considerable improvement in overall damping for the hexapod.

Movers and shakers: Granular damping in microgravity

“…Static granular dampers (e.g., Refs. [9,10]) which exploit the rheology of granular matter and impact dampers (e.g., Refs. [11][12][13][14]), where only one or few particles are located in a cavity and dissipate energy in collisions with the walls of the container, are not considered here.…”