Stable Response of Non-Classically Damped Mechanical Systems - II

This review, like its 1987 predecessor, addresses response of a discrete, time-invariant, linear, multiple degree-of-freedom system which exhibits nonclassical damping, including active damping. Unlike a classically damped system, the modes are coupled (or complex). In the intervening decade, stability issues involving nonclassical damping have received attention in applications such as high speed mechanisms, active structural control, vehicle dynamics, and seismic isolation of ground structures. Much of the recent literature has concerned approximate modal decoupling. There have also been contributions to the accurate calculation of the coupled modes, to general stability issues such as gyroscopic stabilization, and to eigenvalue/response bounds. The present article is intended both as a survey of recent literature and as a brief exposition of selected contributions of a general nature.