Damping

Damping is the reduction of vibration over time as a system loses energy. It determines how quickly oscillations die away and how a system responds near resonance.

Viscous damping: Energy dissipation caused by a resistive force proportional to velocity. It models fluid resistance and many engineered dampers, producing a force that grows with motion speed.
Shock absorber: A device that dissipates suspension motion, commonly by forcing fluid through a restricted passage. It converts vehicle suspension oscillations into heat to limit bouncing.
Simple harmonic motion: Periodic motion in which restoring force is proportional to displacement and directed toward equilibrium. It is the undamped baseline against which decay and altered frequency are defined.
Underdamping: A regime in which a disturbed system oscillates while its amplitude decays. It is the familiar ringing response when damping is present but insufficient to prevent oscillation.
Coulomb damping: Energy dissipation caused by roughly constant friction opposing motion. Dry friction removes energy each cycle and can stop motion abruptly rather than producing smooth exponential decay.
Tuned mass damper: A secondary mass and damping system tuned to reduce vibration in a primary structure. Tall buildings use it to counter motion near a troublesome structural resonance.
Natural frequency: The frequency at which a system oscillates freely after being disturbed. Damping changes the free oscillation frequency slightly and governs its decay.
Critical damping: The smallest damping that returns a system to equilibrium without oscillation. It marks the boundary between repeated overshoot and a nonoscillatory return.
Structural damping: Energy loss within a deforming material or structure, often represented by a loss factor. Internal material losses damp vibration even without a separate frictional device.
Seismic base isolation: A building design strategy that decouples a structure from ground motion using flexible supports. Isolation systems often combine flexibility with damping to limit earthquake response.

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