Characterization of viscoelastic damping mechanism in a delaminated structure

This work aims to examine modal damping behavior in a delaminated viscoelastic structure. A numerical assessment of a viscoelastic delaminated structure using one-dimensional theories based on the Carrera Unified Formulation (CUF) was conducted to achieve this goal. The CUFbased models were formulated with Lagrange polynomials and a layer-wise approach, which made it possible to simulate inter-layer defects with relative ease, computational efficiency, and accuracy similar to 3D models. The current framework is based on time-domain method verification and exploits the frequency-based structural damping model to estimate the modal loss factor and natural damped frequency. The numerical outcomes confirm the approximation of the viscoelastic damping by the structural damping model and validate the adopted numerical method for solving the complex frequency-dependent eigenvalue problem with a comparison of the literature. In conclusion, by evaluating the modal parameters, this research provides an innovative, comprehensive understanding of the viscoelastic damping mechanism in a delaminated structure. The proposed numerical method based on the CUF can be used to simulate inter-layer defects and determine the damping behavior of viscoelastic structures, which can have significant implications for structural health monitoring and maintenance.