Using an Experimental Approach to Estimate Damping Coefficient

To model the dynamic behavior of a vehicle, even if is used a simple two degree of freedom model [4], some variables must be known to establish the equations of movement as, geometric dimensions, mass, spring rate constants and viscous damping coefficients. This last variable is not usually available in specialized literature; in consequence numerical simulations of motion models can be as accurate as the estimative of its value. To bypass this limitation an equipment of one degree of freedom was designed and constructed to impose to a mass/damper/spring system the necessary conditions to generate an experimental underdamped output. Using the logarithmic decrement approach on experimental data obtained is possible to better estimate the viscous damping coefficient. The theoretical underground is explicited and the experimental procedures are fully explained.