Transient Response of MDOF Systems With Inerters to Nonstationary Stochastic Excitation

Explicit, closed-form, exact analytical expressions are derived for the covariance kernels of a multi degrees-of-freedom (MDOF) system with arbitrary amounts of viscous damping (not necessarily proportional-type), that is equipped with one or more auxiliary mass damper-inerters placed at arbitrary location(s) within the system. The “inerter” is a device that imparts additional inertia to the vibration damper, hence magnifying its effectiveness without a significant damper mass addition. The MDOF system is subjected to nonstationary stochastic excitation consisting of modulated white noise. Results of the analysis are used to determine the dependence of the time-varying mean-square response of the primary MDOF system on the key system parameters such as primary system damping, auxiliary damper mass ratio, location of the damper-inerter, inerter mass ratio, inerter node choices, tuning of the coupling between the damper-inerter and the primary system, and the excitation envelope function. Results of the analysis are used to determine the dependence of the peak transient mean-square response of the system on the damper/inerter tuning parameters, and the shape of the deterministic intensity function. It is shown that, under favorable dynamic environments, a properly designed auxiliary damper, encompassing an inerter with a sizable mass ratio, can significantly attenuate the response of the primary system to broad band excitations; however, the dimensionless “rise-time” of the nonstationary excitation substantially reduces the effectiveness of such a class of devices (even when optimally tuned) in attenuating the peak dynamic response of the primary system.