Viscoelastic Characterization and Effective Damping of a Carbon/Polyurethane Laminate

Two very important factors in determining the effectiveness of a pump are its volumetric and energy efficiencies. Yin and Ghoneim constructed a prototype of a flexible body pump with a high volumetric efficiency (pumping potential). The high volumetric efficiency was attributed to the geometry of the pump's structure (hyperboloid) as well as the high negative effective Poisson's ratio of the 3-layer ([theta/beta/theta]) flexible matrix composite (Carbon/Polyurethane) laminate adopted for the body of the pump. The energy efficiency was not evaluated. An important factor in assessing the energy efficiency is the effective damping (energy dissipation) of the flexible body material. The objective of the current research is to evaluate the viscoelastic material properties (Analytically & Experimentally) and the effective damping of the 3-layer ([theta/beta/theta]) Carbon/Polyurethane laminate as a function of the two angle orientations theta and beta. Consequently, identify the fiber angle orientation for the best volumetric and energy efficiencies of the flexible body pump.