Evaluation of Energy and Power Flow in a Nonlinear Energy Sink Attached to a Linear Primary Oscillator

The objective of this study is to develop a novel methodology to assess the energy flow between a nonlinear energy sink (NES) and the primary system it is attached to in terms of energy orientation, which is directly related to the sign of the power present on the primary system. To extend the work done in previous studies, which have focused primarily on the analytical treatment, characterization, and performance evaluation of NES as passive nonlinear dampers for structures under different types of excitations, this study incorporates a methodology for determining whether energy is entering or leaving a primary oscillator when interacting with an NES, by means of considering the power flow of the primary oscillator. Several current measures for evaluating the effectiveness of the NES at extracting and dissipating energy irreversibly are considered through numerical simulations of systems with different damping cases of the NES. Each case provides a different dissipation scenario in the combined system, which is subjected to different types of base excitation signals such as impulse and seismic records. The methodology is further validated experimentally using a two degrees-of-freedom system with an NES attached to the second mass. Comparisons of the modeled responses versus the measured responses are provided for several physical damping realization scenarios in the NES.