Membrane-type resonator as an effective miniaturized tuned vibration mass damper

Damping of low frequency vibration by lightweight and compact devices has been a serious challenge in various areas of engineering science. Here we report the experimental realization of a type of miniature low frequency vibration dampers based on decorated membrane resonators. At frequency around 150 Hz, two dampers, each with outer dimensions of 28 mm in diameter and 5 mm in height, and a total mass of 1.78 g which is less than 0.6% of the host structure (a nearly free-standing aluminum beam), can reduce its vibrational amplitude by a factor of 1400, or limit its maximum resonance quality factor to 18. Furthermore, the conceptual design of the dampers lays the foundation and demonstrates the potential of further miniaturization of low frequency dampers.