Design and test of a friction damper to reduce engine vibrations on a space launcher

摘要

Space launchers are submitted to complex vibration environments and this can impact the payload it is carrying. Ensuring the protection of the payload therefore requires the addition of a secondary system. In this paper, a rapid design method for the dimensioning of a friction damper is developed, based on the equivalent energy dissipation with that of a viscous damper. A friction damper is designed and a prototype is built. The friction damper is first characterised alone and it is then mounted inside a scale model of a launcher last stage. The friction damper is adequately modelled by a spring in series with a friction element. The damper prototype proves to efficiently damp the rocket engine vibrations, and the design method used for dimensioning the friction damper gives a good approximation for the optimal sliding force of the damper.