Variable Amplitude Passive Aircraft Vibration and Noise Reduction

Vibrations in equipment such as aircraft can be harmful to occupants as well as the equipment. Large vibrations can loosen fasteners, cause fatigue failures, increase fatigue on people, and cause auditory discomfort. The reduction of these vibrations is beneficial to the aircraft and occupants. Typical passive vibration reduction systems are limited in bandwidth (such as TVAs), very temperature sensitive (such as TMDs), or susceptible to nonlinear behavior when over excited (TVAs and TMDs). Mid proposes a next generation vibration damping system that utilizes smart materials. The system is scalable to a wide range of frequencies and amplitudes. It is self-tuning, passive, and adaptive. The system is able to respond to changes in vibration frequency by changing its stiffness and changes in vibration amplitude by limiting amplitude of the damper based on the phase of the excitation frequency. These next generation dampers will have a wider bandwidth and higher damping than legacy dampers while remaining easy to install and free of operator intervention.