EPSRC - Multidomain Vibration Absorber Design

Vibration absorbers are commonly used in infrastructure assets (e.g. wind turbines, buildings, bridges) and in the dynamic systems which operate on them (e.g. railway and road vehicles). To achieve more structurally resilient, low carbon and lifetime cost efficient infrastructure assets, a step change in the performance of vibration absorbers is urgently needed. There are numerous absorber design possibilities considering components from multiple domains (mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical). However, because there is no systematic approach available, only an extremely limited number of designs have been studied to date. This fellowship will establish an optimal multidomain vibration-absorber synthesis tool, which will fully unlock the significant potential of vibration absorber designs.

The superiority of the proposed synthesis tool, and the subsequent design improvements, will be demonstrated using industrially driven and supported case studies in three infrastructure sectors. These include the alleviation of wind- and wave-induced loads to wind turbines (wind energy sector); the mitigation of environmental- and human-induced oscillations in buildings and bridges (civil structure sector); the enhancement of vehicle-track and pantograph-catenary interactions (rail sector).

The developed absorber synthesis tool will be applicable to solving the dynamic performance challenges in a wide range of mechanical structures, for example, minimising road damage produced by heavy duty vehicles, vibration mitigation of hydraulic and pneumatic pipelines, and dynamic performance enhancement for robotics and autonomous vehicles. These present a significant opportunity for the PI, UK Academia and UK Industry to establish a world leading capability in this challenging field with unique expertise.

Project Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Project Partners:
Atkins, Brecknell Willis and Co Ltd, GMT Rubber-Metal-Technic Ltd, NREL (Nat Renewable Energy Laboratory), Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Romax Technology Limited,SNC-Lavalin (UK)

Grant Value: £1M