Viscous damping
Introduction
damping or damping is defined as the ability of a system or body to dissipate kinetic energy into another type of energy. Typically shock absorbers dissipate kinetic energy into thermal energy and/or plastic energy (e.g. impact attenuator), that is, the function of a shock absorber is to receive, absorb and mitigate such a force, either because it has been dispersed or because the energy has been transformed so that the initial force has become smaller. The better the initial force damping, the lower the force received on the end point.
Damping is a fundamental parameter in the field of vibrations, also in the development of mathematical models that allow the study and analysis of vibrating systems, such as: metallic structures, engines, rotating machinery, turbines, automobiles, etc. This is aimed at the theory that every vibrating system (usually mechanical systems) has the capacity to dissipate energy. To control vibrations and impacts in machinery, the concept of damping is used as a technique to dissipate energy from the system, thus manipulating the vibration amplitude in the system and other study parameters.
There are many inventions that apply the principles of mechanical forces which have the objective of canceling or dissipating an impact.
Also, damping is the dissipation of energy in a mechanical structure and its conversion into heat. There are several damping mechanisms, the most important of which are Coulomb damping and viscous damping.
Damping types
A mechanical system that has mass and elasticity "Elasticity (solid mechanics)") will have a natural frequency and also the peculiarity of vibrating; If energy is provided to the system it will tend to vibrate, or if an external force acts on the system with a certain frequency, the system could enter a resonance state "Resonance (mechanical)") and this in turn would mean a high vibration condition and the system becomes unstable and ready to fail. The importance of the study of damping is based on all this, mainly in mechanical engineering.
There are different mechanisms or types of damping, depending on their nature: