Vascular Fluid Damping of Flexible Multifunctional Composite Cantilevers: Experiment, Modeling and Analysis

Passive structural damping treatments based on viscoelastic polymers of elastomers are widely used in practice and have been the focus of numerous research studies and papers. Here we examine a multifunctional structure with vascular channels and investigate how the fluid in the channels provides damping to the system. While the vibration and stability of flow through a pipe has been extensively examined, internal fluid induced passive damping has not been well investigated in literature. Motivated by research in using vascular channels to provide self-cooling and autonomous healing of multifunctional composites, here we investigate the material and mechanical parameter dependence effects of internal fluid damping using an experimental study, modeling and numerical analysis of the dynamics of flexible cantilever beam conveying three types of internal vascular fluid flows.