Issue 23

M. Bocciolone et alii, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 23 (2013) 34-46; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.23.04 43 Figure 12 : Final appearance of the three horn samples. E XPERIMENTAL TESTS he non-dimensional damping, related to the first flexural mode of the three horns manufactured, was experimentally measured by performing a series of decay tests with the horn in a single cantilever configuration. During the tests, the end of the horn, designed to be connected to the structure of the collector, was clamped on a steel fixture, while the other end was loaded with an initial vertical displacement and then released to oscillate freely [22]. The transient response was recorded in terms of the vertical displacement of the section of the horn at a distance of 150 mm from the clamp. The displacement was measured by means of a lase-triangulation sensor (MEL M5L/10). The non dimensional damping was evaluated as follows: 1 ln 2 where n n n n n x h x             (2) where  n is the logarithmic attenuation coefficient, x n is the vertical displacement amplitude of the horn at 150 mm from the clamping at the n th oscillation of the transient response and x n+1 is the same displacement amplitude at the ( n+1) th oscillation. During transient decay, the amplitude of each successive oscillation decreases, meaning that Eq. (2) allows us to obtain the dependence of the non-dimensional damping from the displacement amplitude. In order to compare the non-dimensional damping (h) with the loss factor (tan  ), assumed as an index of the intrinsic damping in section Design considerations , the following consideration can be made. The loss factor (tan  ) of the oscillatory beam, considered as a single degree of freedom system, is defined as the ratio tan 2 d E U    (3) where E d is the energy loss per cycle and U is the strain energy. Assuming that the motion is entirely due to the first flexural mode 2 1 1 1 2 U k q  (4) 2 1 1 1 d E c q     (5) where k 1 is the modal stiffness, q 1 is the modal coordinate, c 1 is the modal damping, and   is the frequency of the first flexural mode of the beam. On account of 2 1 1 1 k m   where m 1 is the modal mass of the beam and, from the definition of non-dimensional damping   1 1 1 1 2 c h m   , Eq. (3) can be rewritten as: 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 (2 ) tan 2 1 2 2 c q h m q h m q k q             (6) T