Vibration-damping laminate stack
AssigneeCountervail Products, LLC
InventorsAnthony A. Caiazzo, Jr., Anthony A. Caiazzo, Sr.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A laminate stack composed of layers of composite material and viscoelastic material is disclosed. The composite material is made of fiber bundles bound with a polymer matrix and arranged in a continuous curve. In some of the composite layers, the fiber bundles are made of different kinds of material, called a multi-fiber spatially varying stiffness (MFSVS) composite layer. The construction of these MFSVS composite layers transfers more vibration to the viscoelastic layer than composite layers with straight fiber bundles or composite layers where all fiber bundles are made of the same material. The stack can be incorporated into a variety of objects requiring damping, including tubes, sheets, and shells.
Claims19
An energy-absorbing laminate stack comprising:
- a first composite layer comprising first fiber bundles of reinforcing fiber, the first fiber bundles being bound with a polymer matrix, being arranged side-by-side in a shape of a first continuous curve, and having orthotropic stiffness;
- a second composite layer comprising second fiber bundles of reinforcing fiber, the second fiber bundles being bound with a polymer matrix and arranged side-by-side in a shape of a second continuous curve, the second fiber bundles including
- a first type of reinforcing fiber bundles, being bundles of carbon fiber that have orthotropic stiffness, and
- a second type of reinforcing fiber bundles, being bundles of a second type of reinforcing fiber that have orthotropic stiffness, the second type of reinforcing fiber being glass fiber or aramid fiber,
- wherein one type of reinforcing fiber bundles among the first and second types of reinforcing fiber bundles are alternating with another type of reinforcing fiber bundles among the first and second types of reinforcing fiber bundles in a one-by-one arrangement, two-one-two-one arrangement, or three-one-three-one arrangement in the second composite layer;
- and
- a dissipating layer of viscoelastic material, positioned between the first composite layer and the second composite layer,
- wherein the first continuous curve and the second continuous curve are out of phase with each other.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.