Influence of damping properties of adhesively bonded joints on the dynamic behaviour of steel structures: numerical investigations

The efforts of politics and industry to implement resource-efficient lightweight construction concepts result in lighter construction methods that are more susceptible to dynamic excitation and the associated vibration phenomena. However, lighter structures tend to be more susceptible to dynamic excitation and the associated negative effects on the durability and usability. The increasing use of bonding technology in the construction, automotive and mechanical engineering industries raises the question whether the damping properties of dynamically excited structures can be optimised by the specific use of adhesively bonded joints. Due to their inherent material damping, viscoelastic adhesives have the potential to optimize the dynamic behaviour of structures. This effect has not yet been comprehensively investigated. The focus of this paper is on the numerical investigation of realistic steel structures with adhesively bonded joints. In this context, steel-structures with a single adhesively bonded joint as well as a multi-joint structure are analysed. The effects of the locally acting adhesive-inherent damping on the dynamic behaviour of the example structures are investigated for both steady-state vibration states in the eigenfrequency range and a transient vibration state.