Segmented Liquid Damper With Floating Elements for Sloshing Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid absorbers for damping vibrations in slender structures are ineffective in avoiding non-linear effects and achieving precise damping ratios, especially at sloshing lengths over 80 cm, leading to weak and costly damping solutions.
Innovation Solution
A liquid absorber with a container and floating elements, such as pellets or a flexurally rigid plate, that applies a force to reduce surface wave formation, allowing for fine adjustments in damping ratio through varying weights or a plunger system, and a control unit for adaptive damping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional liquid absorbers are used to damp vibrations in slender structures, then the first natural frequency can be neutralized with the absorber mass, but two new resonance frequencies are produced that can only be damped in a weak, expensive and ineffective manner
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid absorber is segmented into multiple compartments by partition walls, with each compartment containing floating elements. This segmentation allows independent tuning of each compartment to target different frequency ranges, effectively damping multiple resonance frequencies simultaneously without producing harmful new resonances.
Solution Approach 2:
Different compartments are configured with different fill levels, partition wall heights, and floating element densities to create locally optimized damping characteristics. This allows each compartment to address specific frequency ranges while maintaining overall system effectiveness across a broad spectrum.
2Reliability
If the sloshing length of the liquid is increased to improve damping, then non-linear effects occur at sloshing lengths over 80 cm, leading to ineffective damping
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the liquid absorber into multiple smaller compartments, each with its own floating elements, the system achieves effective damping without requiring a single large sloshing length. This prevents non-linear effects while maintaining damping effectiveness across multiple frequency ranges.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from relying solely on horizontal sloshing motion to utilizing vertical floating element motion and multi-compartment interactions. This dimensional change allows effective damping without increasing the sloshing length beyond the 80 cm threshold where non-linear effects occur.
3Reliability
If floating elements are added to reduce surface wave formation, then the damping ratio increases, but the device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The floating elements are designed as simple, inexpensive components that can be easily manufactured and replaced. These basic elements provide significant damping enhancement without requiring complex mechanisms, maintaining cost-effectiveness while improving performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating elements serve multiple functions: they reduce surface wave formation, provide damping forces across different frequency ranges, and can be adjusted to tune the system. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, simplifying the overall device complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution significantly increases the damping ratio, avoids non-linear effects, and enables precise damping adjustments, enhancing structural safety and reducing production costs by improving response behavior over a broad frequency spectrum.
Implementation Method 1
the basic principle of this type of vibration absorption or damping is based on the premise that fluid, in a cell not completely filled with this fluid, sloshes in the form of a wave, strikes an end wall of the cell, is reflected thereby and flows back in the opposite direction
Implementation Method 2
the vibration of a construction occurring as a result of wind, earthquake and the like is absorbed by the viscous resistance occurring between the liquid and the damping members
Implementation Method 3
floating elements, such as pellets or a flexurally rigid plate, that applies a force to reduce surface wave formation
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid absorber is for absorbing and damping vibrations in structures, in particular in slender, vertically oriented structures. It is therefore an object to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a liquid absorber which lessens the sloshing effect of a fluid in the liquid absorber. A further object is to provide a liquid absorber which achieves an increase in the damping ratio for containers with sloshing lengths of more than 80 cm. A further object is to enable fine adjustments to be made with regard to the damping ratio and to develop a vibration absorber which has optimal damping properties (“Den Hartog”) and considerably improves the response behavior over a broad frequency spectrum.