Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

Study on mechanism of mechanical damping system based

on the colloidal suspension of nano-porous particles
W.J. Song a , J. Kim b , B.Y. Moon a , B.S. Kang a, , S.M. Hwang b
a

Department of Aerospace Engineering, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735, Republic of Korea
b ERC/NSDM, Pusan National University, Pusan 609-735, Republic of Korea

Abstract
Damping systems have been widely used to various industrial structures and are mainly hydraulic and pneumatic devices nowadays. In
this work, a novel damping system based on the colloidal suspension in the field of nanotechnology is investigated. This kind of colloidal
damping system has a high possibility to replace with hydraulic damping system as an anti-vibration structure. The colloidal suspension
consists of lyophobic working fluid and hydrophobic-coated porous particle. The mechanism of mechanical energy dissipation in damping
system based on the colloidal suspension with nano-porous particles is different from that of the existing hydraulic damping system. The
absorbed energy of the damping system using colloidal suspension can be calculated through the mechanical equilibrium condition by the
superficial tensions of liquidgas interface in the hydrophobic surface in nano-porous particles. The results from an analytic approach have
a reasonable agreement with experimental results.
2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Colloidal suspension; Surface tension; Nano-porous particle; Energy dissipation

1. Introduction
Damping systems have been widely used to various industrial structures and are mainly hydraulic devices nowadays. The novel concept of heterogeneous structure that
Eroshenko had proposed can accumulate and dissipate the
mechanical energy [1]. The energy-dissipated structure is
called colloidal damper [2]. This kind of colloidal damping
system can be replaced with hydraulic damping system as an
anti-vibration structure in all of industrial field. The mechanism of mechanical energy dissipation in damping system
based on the colloidal suspension with nano-porous particles is different from that of the existing hydraulic damping system. The colloidal suspension consists of lyophobic
working fluid and hydrophobic-coated porous particles. Although related studies have been made on static experiments
and introductory theoretical investigation [24], there seems
to be no diverse application of analytic approach for the prediction of the performance of colloidal damping system.
The absorbed energy of the damping system using
colloidal suspension can be estimated through the me Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: bskang@pusan.ac.kr (B.S. Kang),
woodysong@lycos.co.kr (W.J. Song), greatkj@pusan.ac.kr (J. Kim),
moonby@pusan.ac.kr (B.Y. Moon), shwang@pusan.ac.kr (S.M. Hwang).

0924-0136/$ see front matter 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2004.04.047

chanical equilibrium condition by the superficial tensions

of liquidgas interface of the hydrophobic surface in
nano-porous particles. In this work, a novel damping system
based on the colloidal suspension in the field of nanotechnology is investigated. This research presents the method of
prediction about the dissipated energy and the energy dissipation efficiency of the colloidal damping system. Especially, the prediction of energy dissipation efficiency about
several kinds of colloidal damping systems is performed
through the analytic approach using the conditions governing mechanical equilibrium of capillary system, which is
consisted with fluid and particles having nano-sized passages. The results from an analytic approach have a reasonable agreement with the previous experimental results [3].
It is noted that the analytic approach of the prediction
and evaluation of energy dissipation efficiency of colloidal
damping system can be used to design an actual damper
using colloidal suspension as anti-vibration structures.

2. Analytical approach for estimation of performance

of colloidal damping system
The performance for colloidal damping systems can be estimated through the analytic approach using conditions governing mechanical equilibrium of capillary system, which is

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W.J. Song et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

Fig. 1. Schematic view of total energy dissipation cycle in colloidal damping system.

consisted with fluid and porous particles having nano-sized

passages. Fig. 1 shows a complete cycle from compression to relaxation of colloidal damping system. When colloidal damping system is under the external pressure, working fluid percolates through nano-sized passage of a porous
particle.
The compression phase can be divided into two steps
(steps A and B in Fig. 3(a)) with respect to the radius of the
passage. One is the period when the working fluid penetrates
a nano-sized passage of the porous particle; the other is the
period when the working fluid fills a cavity of the porous
particle after penetrating the nano-sized passage. The relaxation phase of the total cycle for colloidal damping system
can be divided into two steps (steps C and D in Fig. 3(b))
in the same manner.
2.1. Relation between pressure and volume variation of
porous particle with nano-sized passage under the external
load
The performance of the colloidal damping system is determined by the amount of dissipated energy to that of absorbed energy during compression phase of a total cycle.
This ratio is called the energy dissipation efficiency of colloidal damping system.
In order to estimate the performance of colloidal damping system, variation of the absorbed volume of the working fluid should be calculated with respect to loading external pressure. Variation of the absorbed volume is related
with the external pressure loaded as the mechanical equilibrium condition. Before the relationship with the variation of
the absorbed volume to the external pressure is determined
through the mechanical equilibrium of capillary system in
porous particle with nano-sized passage, there are several
assumptions to be considered.
These assumptions are the following:

expressed as follows [5]:


2 cos
+ Pair
Pext =
R

where Pext is the external pressure loaded, and Pair the pressure in the cavity of porous particles and, , , and R are
superficial tension, angle of liquidgas interface in the solid
surface, and radius of capillary system, respectively.
Considering equation of state for ideal gas, one can obtain
the following relation among pressure (P) and volume (V)
for isothermal process:
PV
= constant
T

(2)

For isothermal process, the above equation can be expressed

as follows:
PV = constant

(3)

Using Eq. (3), the following relation between pressure and

volume for two different states of ideal gas can be obtained:
Pair Vair = PATM VATM

(4)

1
Vair

(5)

Pair = PATM VATM

Eqs. (4) and (5) means that the product of pressure and
volume of the cavity of porous particle under the external
pressure loaded is the same as that of under the atmospheric
pressure. As shown in Fig. 2, the volume of the cavity of a

1. A total cycle from compression to relaxation of colloidal

damping system is isothermal process.
2. Volume of the working fluid is the same of an amount of
total porous particle, which includes the cavity and the
passage.
3. Air in porous particle is considered as an ideal gas.
4. The working fluid is considered as an incompressible one.
The governing mechanical equilibrium of capillary system in porous particles with the nano-sized passage can be

(1)

Fig. 2. Basic model of colloidal damping system.

W.J. Song et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

567

Fig. 3. Partition of a total energy dissipation cycle in colloidal damping system for analytic approach.

porous particle can be expressed using Eqs. (4) and (5) and
variation of the absorbed volume (V):
Vair = VATM

V
N

tem in a porous particle is the external pressure. Fig. 4(a)

and (b) shows about the detailed description of compression
phase of a total energy dissipation cycle.

(6)

where N is the total number of porous particles. Then, the

governing mechanical equilibrium of capillary system in a
porous particle with nano-sized passages can be expressed
from Eqs. (5) and (6):



2 cos
1
Pext =
+ PATM VATM
(7)
R
VATM V/N
where VATM is the volume of porous particle including
nano-sized passage and cavity. The relation with variation
of the absorbed volume to the external pressure can be determined through the above equation.
2.2. Compression phase in energy dissipation cycle of
colloidal damping system
The compression phase can be divided into two steps like
steps A and B in Fig. 3(a) with respect to the radius of capillary system. One (step A) is the period when the working
fluid penetrates a nano-sized passage of the porous particle;
the other (step B) is the period when the working fluid fills
a cavity of the porous particle after the nano-sized passage.
For step A, the angle of liquidgas interface in the solid
surface changes from 90 to 180 with loading the external
pressure, and the radius of capillary system is that of the
passage of a porous particle. For step B, the radius of capillary system is that of the cavity of a porous particle, and
the angle of liquidgas interface in the solid surface is considered as 180 regardless of loading the external pressure.
And the working pressure in these steps of the capillary sys-

2.3. Relaxation phase in energy dissipation cycle of

colloidal damping system
The relaxation phase can be divided into two steps like
steps C and D in Fig. 3(b) with respect to the radius of capillary system. One (step C) is the period when the working
fluid flows off a cavity of the porous particle to nano-sized
passage; the other (step D) is the period when the working
fluid passes through a nano-sized passage of the porous particle. For a step C, the radius of capillary system is that of
the cavity of a porous particle, and the angle of liquidgas
interface in the solid surface is considered as 180 regardless of loading the external pressure. For a step D, the angle
of liquidgas interface in the solid surface changes from 90
to 180 with loading the external pressure, and the radius
of capillary system is that of the passage of a porous particle. And the working pressure in these steps of capillary
system in a porous particle is the pressure in the cavity of
particle. Figs. 5 and 6 show about the detailed description
of compression phase of total energy dissipation cycle.

3. Results through analytic approach for estimation of

performance of colloidal damping system
The performance of colloidal damping system can be estimated using the governing mechanical equilibrium of capillary system in a porous particle with nano-sized passages.
The experiment under static loading was performed for colloidal damping systems with several kinds of porous parti-

Fig. 4. Detailed descriptions with steps of compression phase of total energy dissipation cycle.

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W.J. Song et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

Fig. 5. Detailed descriptions with steps of relaxation phase of total energy dissipation cycle.
Table 3
Performance of colloidal damping systems

Table 1
Dimension of nano-porous particles (unit: nm)

Diameter of passage
Diameter of particle
Diameter of inner cavity
Stroke of colloidal damping system
Diameter of piston

P1

P2

P3

10
20E3
15.8E3
11.2E6
20E6

20
20E3
15.8E3
13.7E6
20E6

30
20E3
15.8E3
14.1E6
20E6

P1

P2

P3

P4

P5

Absorbed energy (nm) 79.2E9 53.0E9 39.2E9 102.9E9 102.9E9

Dissipated energy (nm) 65.8E9 36.6E9 22.4E9 90.2E9 90.2E9
Efficiency (%)
83.1
69.1
57.1
87.7
87.7

pression phase as follows:

Table 2
Dimension of nano-porous particles (unit: nm)

Diameter of passage
Diameter of particle
Diameter of inner cavity
Stroke of colloidal damping system
Diameter of piston

Dissipated energy during the cycle

Absorbed energy during compression phase
Edissipation
=
Ecompression

P4

P5

7
20E3
6E3
11.2E6
20E6

7
40E3
12E3
11.2E6
20E6

cles in Ref. [3]. The particle dimensions of colloidal damping systems applied by the analytic approach are shown in
Tables 1 and 2. And these results from the analytic approach
are compared with the experimental results of Ref. [3] in
Figs. 6 and 7. The energy dissipation efficiency and the dissipated and the dissipated energy amount for each case are
summarized in Table 3.
The energy dissipation efficiency from the colloidal damping system is defined as the ratio of the dissipated energy
during the total cycle to the absorbed energy during com-

(8)

3.1. Comparison for various passage diameters in

nano-porous particle
Firstly, the analytic approach using the governing mechanical equilibrium condition is applied with three different dimensions of porous particles. These colloidal damping systems have porous particles of uniform diameter with
various diameters of fluid passages. P1, P2, and P3 have 10,
20, and 30 nm as the diameter of fluid passages in porous
particles, respectively, and the particle diameter is constant
as 20 m (20 000 nm). Fig. 6(a) and (b) shows the comparison of results between analytic approach and experiment for
various fluid passage diameters. As these results are compared with the experiment for the same cases in Ref. [3],

Fig. 6. Comparison between experimental results and analytic results for various passage diameters of nano-porous particle in colloidal damping system.

W.J. Song et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

569

Fig. 7. Comparison between experimental results and analytic results for various diameters of nano-porous particle in colloidal damping system.

80
70

4.00E+010

60
50

3.00E+010

40
30

2.00E+010
1.00E+010

20

Dissipated Energy
Efficiency

0
2

Case of Particle [1 : P1 2 : P2 3 : P3]

(a) For various passage diameters of nano

porous particle in colloidal damping
system

80
70

8.00E+010

60
50

6.00E+010

40
4.00E+010
2.00E+010

10

0.00E+000
1

90
1.00E+011

30

Efficiency [%]

5.00E+010

Dissipated Energy [Nm]

90

6.00E+010

100

1.20E+011

100

Efficiency [%]

Dissipated energy [Nm]

7.00E+010

20

Dissipated Energy
Efficiency

10
0

0.00E+000
1

Case of Particle [1 : P4 2 : P5]

(b) For various diameters of nano porous

particle in colloidal damping system

Fig. 8. Energy dissipation efficiencies of analytic solution for colloidal damping systems.

the maximum pressure is different from each other. But the

hysteresis curve has the similar tendency with decreasing
the diameter of fluid passages. Fig. 8(a) shows that the energy dissipation efficiency goes down with increasing the
fluid passage diameter of porous particle. It is confirmed
that the energy dissipation efficiency of colloidal damping
system can be affected by the passage diameter of porous
particle.
This analysis shows that the performance for colloidal
damping system with working fluid and nano-porous particle
can be predicted using the analytic calculation based on the
mechanical equilibrium in capillary system.

ent particle diameters. P4 and P5 have 20 m (20 000 nm)

and 40 m (40 000 nm) as the diameter of the porous particle, respectively, whose fluid passage diameter is constant as
7 nm. Fig. 7(a) and (b) shows the comparison of results between analytic approach and experiment [3]. The hysteresis
curves for different diameter of porous particle in colloidal
damping system have the similar tendency with those of the
experiment [3]. It can be confirmed with these results that
the diameter of porous particle cannot affect to the energy
dissipation efficiency of colloidal damping system.

4. Concluding remarks
3.2. Comparison for various diameters
of nano-porous particles
In order to evaluate the effect of the diameter of porous
particles on the efficiency of colloidal damping system, the
analytic approach based on the governing mechanical equilibrium condition is applied with two different dimensions
of porous particles. These colloidal damping systems have
porous particle with a uniform passage diameter and differ-

The novel concept of colloidal damping system using

nano-porous particles is investigated in this research. Especially, the performance of colloidal damping systems can
be predicted theoretically through the analytic approach
based on the governing mechanical equilibrium condition of
capillary system in the porous particle with nano-sized fluid
passage. The contents of this research can be summarized
as follows.

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W.J. Song et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 153154 (2004) 565570

Firstly, this research proposes the analytic method to

evaluate the performance of colloidal damping system
with nano-porous particles. In order to confirm the analytic approach for colloidal damping system, these results
are compared with those of experimental results [3]. And,
the results from an analytic approach have a reasonable
agreement with experimental results.
Secondly, it is confirmed through this research that
the energy dissipation efficiency of colloidal damping
system can be affected significantly by the fluid passage diameter of porous particle. On the other hand, the
diameter of the porous particle has no influence upon
the energy dissipation efficiency of colloidal damping
system.
Lastly, this research shows that the performance for colloidal damping system using nano-porous particle can be
predicted using the analytic calculation based on the mechanical equilibrium in capillary system.
For further work, it is necessary to verify and confirm the
capability of colloidal damping system using nano-porous
particle through applications to the actual structures in industrial field.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grant No. R01-2003-00010139-0 from the Basic Research Program of the Korea
Science & Engineering Foundation and Brain Busan 21
Project. Also the last author would like to acknowledge the
support of 1999 Research Fund Program of Pusan National
University.
References
[1] V. Eroshenko, United States Patent No. 6 052 992 (2000).
[2] T. Iwatsubo, C. Valentin Suciu, S. Deki, Theoretical investigation of
a colloidal damper, in: Proceedings of the APVC-2001, vol. II, 2001,
pp. 407411.
[3] C. Valentin Suciu, T. Iwatsubo, S. Deki, Investigation of a reversible
colloidal damper under static loading, in: Proceedings of the Dynamics
and Design Conference 2002, No. 02-9, 2002.
[4] C. Valentin Suciu, T. Iwatsubo, S. Deki, Investigation of the hysteresis of a colloidal damper, in: Proceedings of the Second Damping
Symposium, No. 01-72, Japan, 2002.
[5] R. Defay, I. Prigogine, Surface Tension and Adsorption, Wiley, New
York, 1966.