Experimental Investigation on the Damping Coefficient of Laminated Glass for Large Yacht Windows

Comfort on board is a fundamental parameter to deal with in the yacht design process. In the framework of this study, the assessment of the dynamic properties of materials used for the vessel construction, such as the damping coefficient, is an important step to perform preliminary predictive analyses for vibration and noise levels. This paper is focused on the definition of the damping coefficient of laminated glass, which is a really complex material commonly used for windows in the current yacht market. As a matter of fact the actual trend of using larger and larger windows for owner’s cabins and saloons could represent a critical point in terms of noise and vibrations and makes the laminated glass dynamic characterization a fundamental issue to be investigated. Different experimental modal methods for obtaining the damping coefficient at natural frequencies are applied to laminated glass specimens, while the Reverberation Time test is proposed to assess the coefficient in the whole frequency range of interest. In the final part of the paper, a comparison between the results of different methods is presented.