Damping

• The larger the damping ratio, , the larger the ratio of successive peak displacements in free vibration ( ), and the quicker the decay of oscillations.
• The damping ratio can be determined from measurements using the vibration theory of a single degree-of-freedom system.
• The damping ratio is a measure of the amount of damping in a structure which can effectively reduce structural vibration at resonance.
• The higher the amplitude of free vibration of a structure, the larger will be the critical damping ratio and the smaller will be the natural frequency.