Hysteretic damping apparati and methods

A hysteretic damping apparatus for damping vibration of a stationary structure to be damped, the structure being stationary other than during the vibration, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of tension elements formed of a shape memory alloy;
• and
• a mechanism comprising a first component and a second component, said mechanism being capable of transforming at least a portion of the vibration of the structure into relative motion between said first component and said second component when said mechanism is coupled to the structure said tension elements being coupled in tension between said first component and said second component such that at least a portion of said relative motion cycles said tension elements in tension through the superelastic stress-strain hysteresis of said shape memory alloy to convert at least a portion of energy from the vibration into heat.

A damping apparatus for absorbing a portion of the energy of an estimated vibratory dynamic loading on the apparatus, the apparatus comprising:

• a first member fixedly attached to a first structural portion of a stationary structure to be damped, the first structural portion being the path through which the vibratory dynamic loading is transmitted to the apparatus, the first structural portion being stationary other than during the vibratory dynamic loading;
• a second member attached to a second structural portion of the to be damped structure such that relative motion occurs between said first structural portion and said second structural portion when the vibratory dynamic loading of the to be damped structure occurs, the second structural portion being stationary other than during the vibratory dynamic loading;
• at least one superelastic tension element arranged between and coupled to said first and second members, said tension element being located such that vibratory motion between said first and second members causes strain in the element, said element being of a length such that the relative motion between said first and second members is within the superelastic strain of said tension element and said tension element absorb and damp at least a portion of the energy of the vibratory dynamic loading.

A hysteretic damping apparatus for damping vibration of a stationary structure to be damped, the structure being stationary other than during the vibration, said apparatus comprising:

• at least one tension element formed of a shape memory alloy;
• and
• a mechanism comprising a first component and a second component, said mechanism being capable of transforming at least a portion of the vibration of the structure into relative motion between said first component and said second component when said mechanism is coupled to the structure, said tension element being coupled in tension between said first component and said second component such that at least a portion of said relative motion cycles said tension element in tension through the superelastic stress-strain hysteresis of said shape memory alloy to convert at least a portion of energy from the vibration into heat.