Jingquan Cheng [1]
January 10, 1994
Keywords: antennas, damping, resonant frequencies, fast switching
For the proposed NRAO MMA, calibration of the interferometric phase may require the antennas to be able to switch rapidly to and from a nearby calibrator source. The ability to switch rapidly is limited by the natural resonant frequencies of key parts of the structure. The frequencies of these resonances may be changed, and the 'Q' of the oscillations changed in a controlled way, by the application of damping material to key members of the structure. The use of constrained damping layers gives the potential for greater control of these factors; the technology is already in use in applications ranging from computer disk drives to airplane turbines. This paper outlines the principles of the constrained damping layer treatment.
[1] NRAO/TUC
Last modified: 09 December, 1999
kweather@nrao.edu