Hysteretic Damping Form

Hysteretic damping is used for steady-state and power-spectral-density analysis. The damping matrix is calculated as a linear combination of the stiffness matrix scaled by a coefficient that you specify, and the mass matrix scaled by a second coefficient that you specify. The damping matrix becomes the imaginary part of the complex stiffness (impedance) matrix that is solved at each frequency. Specify the damping in one of the following ways:

Note: Although the mass coefficient is provided for completeness, only the stiffness coefficient is normally used.

When constant hysteretic coefficients are used, hysteretic damping depends only on displacement, not on velocity. This is often a better model for solids than is viscous damping, which is more suited to fluids. To model viscous damping, specify a stiffness coefficient that increases linearly with frequency.

Tip: You can approximate modal damping using a hysteretic stiffness coefficient that is twice the modal damping ratio. For example, to approximate a constant modal damping ratio of 5%, use a constant hysteretic stiffness coefficient of 0.10. This approximation is only accurate at the modal frequency, but that is usually where the most significant response is.

See Also

Damping

Modal Damping Form

 

Access the Hysteretic Damping form as follows:

  1. Click the Define menu > Load Cases command to display the Load Cases form.

  2. Click the Add New Load Case button or highlight a previously defined load case and click the Add Copy of Load Case or the Modify/Show Load Case button to display the Load Case Data form.

  3. Select Steady State or Power Spectral Density from the Load Case Type drop-down list to display the Load Cases Data - Steady State or Load Cases Data - Power Spectral Density form, respectively.

  4. Click the Hysteretic Damping Modify/Show button to display the Hysteretic Damping form.