Numerical investigation of metallic powder material inside additive manufactured particle dampers

This paper presents a novel approach with the Discrete Element Method to determine the damping behavior of metallic powder material inside additive manufactured particle dampers which are manufactured with Selective Laser Melting (SLM) [1]. Particle dampers are a promising approach for passive reduction of vibrations over a wide frequency range. With additive manufacturing, it is possible to manufacture components with embedded powder material cavities. In previous investigations of additive manufactured particle dampers, the non-linear damping behavior was determined experimentally. The dynamic behavior of the metallic powder material in the cavity is unknown. The goal of this research project is to determine the dynamic behavior of the internal powder material in an additive manufactured particle damper. The research questions are: - How can the energy dissipation of powder material be characterized?- What are the main dependencies for the product development of additive manufactured particle dampers? In this research project, the dynamic behavior of stainless steel CL 20ES powder material is modeled with the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The DEM is a numerical method for the simulation of particle motions and particle interactions. The used powder material has particle sizes in the range of 13 to 61 micrometers and particle density of approximately 75'000 particles per cubic millimeter. Due to the small particle size and high particle density, it is only possible to compute the energy dissipation on cavities in the range of millimeters. The dynamic behavior of the powder material is determined under harmonic base excitation of the cavity. The calculation of the energy dissipation is based on the reaction forces of the powder material on the cavity. This study examines the influence of different cavity sizes, cavity shapes, excitation amplitudes and frequencies on the energy dissipation.