Optimal design of damping material distribution in dynamically excited panels

Noise and vibrations levels are basic parameters in passenger comfort. Vibrations are commonly reduced by adding a layer of damping material to the metal sheet of parts of the vehicle body such as the floor, the roof, the firewall. In common practice the panels to be treated are uniformly covered by a layer of damping material; however this is not an efficient design solution especially with regard to the weight containment. In this paper a novel approach to the optimal damping material distribution will be presented. The proposed method is based on a genetic algorithm procedure which takes into account both the vibrational performance and the weight and cost reduction. A simple case study will be illustrated to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed procedure.